TO On the Streets
by anongurl
Summary: Monica is kicked out as a teen and meets Phoebe. Bumps into Chandler... CM
1. One Hour

Chapter 1: One Hour 

_**AN: Hey! I'm back with a new story! Yay! Anyway, my last story (TOW the girlsnotsogood vacation) is almost finished and I have had this idea for a while. As promised, Ross and Rachel will be together in this story, but please be patient. It will take a good couple of chapters for them to show up.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing. None of the characters are mine. **_

AN as of 2006: So, its been a while, but I always intended to finish this story, so I'm going to update each chapter as I reread them and then I'll add the last few chapters.

Eighteen-year-old Monica Gellar pulled into the driveway and parked the car. She jumped out and carefully balanced the bags of groceries she pulled out of the backseat. Monica was having a good day; she had graduated from high school the week before and had just passed her driver's license. It made her happy that her mother trusted her with the car, and even felt safe enough to send her on errands. She and her mother had never had a strong relationship as her mother had always been hard on her, heavily favoring her older brother, Ross, who was in Egypt with their father, on a trip. However, Monica had made a lot of changes in the past year: she had lost a lot of weight and had worked hard all semester to get herself on the honor roll to graduate, all in the hopes that her mother would finally be able to be proud of her. She felt a change in her relationship already. Her mother had seemed much more accepting of her presence in the last few weeks, and Monica had high hopes for the future.

Monica entered the house and took the groceries to the kitchen, putting them all away in their respective places. She then went in search of her mother, who she found in the living room, sitting stiffly on the couch.

"Hi mom, I'm back," Monica said cheerfully. "I got everything on the list and everything is away."

"Monica." Judy said, more like a statement than anything else.

"What's wrong?" Monica asked, noting the look on her mother's face. She appeared very stern, like she had prepared herself for something bad. _Had she done something wrong?_

"Nothing will be wrong soon," Judy replied, no emotion in her voice.

"I'm sorry?" Monica asked, confused by her mother's words. It was almost like she was in a trance.

Judy finally looked up at her daughter, looked her right in the eye. "You have one hour to pack and get out of this house."

Monica laughed nervously. _Was this some kind of joke? _

Judy noticed her hesitation. "The clock is ticking."

"Are you being serious?" Monica asked, stunned. Her mother had always been a little mean to her, but she had never attempted anything like this.

Judy nodded.

"Where am I supposed to go?" Monica asked, still believing this to be a joke.

Judy shrugged. "Wherever you want, just not here."

"But," Monica began. "The only other place I could go would be Rachel's, but she and her family are on a trip."

"That's not my problem."

"Mom!" Monica said. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't call me that." Judy said. "You are no longer my daughter."

"Why?" Monica repeated. "What have I done to deserve this? I've worked so hard to make you proud of me."

Judy looked up at this, and met her daughter's eyes coldly. "You've always been a disappointment, Monica. I never wanted a second child, you were an accident. When I found out I was pregnant I wanted to get an abortion, but your father wouldn't let me."

"You're mad at me for being born!" Monica was astounded by her mother's behavior.

Judy ignored her question. "I did as your father requested. I had you and I allowed you to finish high school. Do you have any idea how inconvenient you have been to me over the years? I spent so much money on clothes and food, and whatever else you needed. Do you know what we could have done with that money? Ross and your father and I could have had such a better life if it weren't for you. We could have had more family trips and done all sorts of things." Judy shook her head disdainfully.

"I-I'm sorry." Monica tried, her voice beginning to waver as the realization that her mother was dead serious began to sink in. "I'll pay you back what you spent on me, if you just give me a chance. I'll get a job and…"

"No, I don't want to hear it. The only way you can pay us back is to leave. I never want to here from you or see you ever again."

"But, what will dad and Ross think when they get home."

Judy shrugged. "They won't care. They know what's happening."

"They know about this?" Monica said meekly, knowing she was quickly running out of options.

"Why do you think they left so soon after graduation?"

"They didn't even want to say goodbye?"

"Why would they, Monica, you have to understand, no one cares about you. You're just an inconvenience that's being taken care of."

Monica had no fight left in her. She simply nodded and looked down. She felt tears rushing to her eyes, but didn't want her mother to see her cry. "I'll go pack then," she said dejectedly.

As soon as Monica was in her room and had closed the door she broke down. She collapsed on the floor in tears. _How had this happened? Why did no one care about her? Her whole life had been a joke so far, the whole times she had been on a time clock. _After about ten minutes, Monica forced herself up. She had to pack before she lost the chance.

She pulled a duffel bag and a back pack out form under her bed and stuffed what she could into them: A couple pairs of pants, shirts, sweaters, extra shoes, socks and underwear, her favorite childhood stuffed animal and some small keepsakes. She then layered on some clothing, putting on as much as she could, and emptied her piggy bank. She grabbed her purse and her banking card. She had some money in the bank that she had saved for school, but not much. She would need to get a job and find a place to stay. If she stayed in a hotel, even a cheap one, her money would run out before long. Monica sighed and grabbed the sleeping bag from her closet, and strapped it to her backpack. This would have to do for a while.

Monica exited her room for the last time and went to the bathroom. Here she packed her toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple bars of soap, shampoo, her hairbrush, and a towel and facecloth. She knew she couldn't take much.

Before she left she went the kitchen, packing whatever she could into her very full bags, water bottles, fruit, bread, granola bars, juice boxes, a bag of carrots, crackers. Whatever she could fit.

She didn't bother saying goodbye to her mother: she wasn't up for it. Monica walked to the front hall and opened the closet door, trying to decide what coat to wear. Her choices were and heavy winter coat, or a lighter jacket. It wasn't all that cold out at the time, but she knew it got colder at night and the winter was approaching. After a moment's hesitation, Monica pulled on the jacket followed by the coat.

Monica took a deep breath, praying she had everything she needed. She did not want to come back, ever. Monica released the breath and stepped out the door, closing it gently behind her. She did not want her mother to think she was upset, it would only make her happier. _She's not your mother anymore, _she reminded herself. Monica sighed and began walking down the street, trying to decide where to go. She stopped when she got to the corner.

She didn't know how long she stood there, unable to pick a direction. Her feet felt heavy in her shoes, as if they were glued to the ground. She spotted a bus in the distance but it was heading in her direction. She sighed to herself and walked over to the stop. As it pulled up and stopped she got on without caring to ask where it was headed. She found an empty seat near the back and settled herself down for a long ride. She had no plan to get off until she had a plan, or at least an idea of where to go. She didn't have a lot of money, so staying in a hotel was out. She was terrified at the thought of sleeping on the street. What would people do to her? She shuddered at the thought. Maybe she could find a shelter. Monica shook her head as she felt tears come to her eyes once again. And to think, things had been looking up this morning.

_**AN: I am well aware that Judy was harsh way beyond the normal scope of her character, but it is necessary for the story.**_


	2. Sorry to 'bump' into you

_**Chapter 2: Sorry to 'bump' into you**_

Monica started awake as the bus hit a bump and lurched slightly. She peered out the window, quickly recognizing downtown New York. It was beginning to get dark. She knew she had to get off soon, or she would be finding a place to sleep in the dark. She saw a park coming up to her left and decided it seemed like a good option. She reached up and pulled the cord.

Backpack strapped tightly on her back and duffle bag held in clenched fingers, Monica stepped off the bus as bravely as she could. She was suddenly aware that today was the first day of the rest of her life: and it was terrifying. She headed into the park, looking for a good place, but ended up wandering aimlessly for a period of time. She lost herself in her thoughts and became almost mesmerized by her feet, landing one after the other, time after time. She was so lost in thought that she was surprised when she walked into someone and fell back on the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Monica said looking up. "It's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going." She studied the figure in front of her. It was a girl, around her age, with dirty blonde hair and a dirt smudge on her cheek.

"Oh, no," the girl said, smiling as she reached out a hand to help Monica up. "It was my fault. I should have paid more attention, I'm always walking into things. I'm Phoebe by the way."

"Monica."

Phoebe seemed to study Monica for a few seconds and tilted her head slightly, as if studying her. "Are you okay?" She asked. "You seem kinda upset, and your aura is all over the place. Is something wrong?"

Monica started shaking her head, but stopped. Phoebe seemed like someone she could talk to. She sighed. "I'm just going through a rough time."

"How come?" Phoebe prodded. She seemed to just speak what came to her mind, and Monica liked that.

She hesitated before answering. "My mom kicked me out and I don't really know what to do, or where to go."

Phoebe smiled sadly. "Stuck on the streets, huh? Don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems. I've been on the streets since I was twelve."

Monica gasped. "Twelve!"

Phoebe shrugged. "My mom killed herself and my step dad was back in jail. My real dad took off when I was really young. I had nowhere to go."

"That's terrible," Monica said.

Phoebe shrugged "Eh, you get used to it."

"Well, I hope so," Monica replied.

"You can stay with me," Phoebe offered brightly. "It's not much, but I've got this really great alley, and a bunch of old boxes. I share the area with a couple others; they're all really nice, we watch each other's stuff so it doesn't get stolen. There's even some rain cover."

"I'd really like that, thanks." Monica said, feeling the tears come again.

Phoebe surprised her by leaning in and giving her a hug. "Don't worry. It seems really bad now, but I promise you, it gets better."

Monica allowed Phoebe to lead her back to the alley and was introduced to Phoebe's 'friends.' They all seemed really nice, just like Phoebe said. Monica was surprised. She had never really thought about these people, and for that she felt bad. Monica was exhausted and starving when she finally sat down on Phoebe's 'bed.' It consisted of a stack of boxes and some old, dirty blankets. Monica pulled out the loaf of bread she had brought and two bottles of water. She gave Phoebe a bottle and shared the bread with her new friend as well. Phoebe was very grateful, as she hadn't eaten since the previous morning.

"The trick is," Phoebe was saying, "to save your empty water bottles, because you can fill them up at water fountains in malls and stuff."

Monica nodded, and filed the fact away in her head. "That makes sense." She knew she had a lot to learn and it was going to be hard, but she was going to make it, with quite a lot of thanks to her new friend Phoebe.

It wasn't long before it was completely dark outside and Monica noticed Phoebe had fallen asleep beside her. It was a long time before Monica fell asleep. She lay awake for hours, hearing every sound, every car on the street nearby, every person, everything. She felt too depressed to even cry. _How had her life come to this?_ Monica finally drifted of into an uneasy sleep in the early hours of the morning.

Monica awoke with a start and sat up quickly, wondering what had woken her up. She saw flashing lights zoom by at the end of the alley, and realized a fire truck had sped by, and the noise had woken her up. Monica looked around, noticing Phoebe was gone and she was alone. She shook her head, exhausted as she had barely gotten any sleep the night before. She had woken up more times than she could count. The first thing she did was pull an apple out of her bag. She was hungry.

It wasn't long before she spotted Phoebe heading back down the alley towards her, a guitar case in hand.

"Morning," Phoebe said happily. "How did you sleep?"

"Not great," Monica said truthfully.

"Don't worry, it gets better. The first couple nights are hard, but you get used to the noise and what not."

"I hope so," Monica said. "So, where did you go this morning?"

"Oh," Phoebe said brightly. "I go down to the subway station most mornings to play," she motioned to her guitar case, "and look I made seven dollars this morning."

"Is that a lot for one morning?" Monica asked.

Phoebe nodded. "For two hours it's pretty good. Occasionally I get lucky and get more than ten. One time I got twenty-two dollars."

Monica smiled at Phoebe's enthusiasm.

"Do you want to come with me this afternoon? There's a game, meaning more people. I can usually make enough for a couple days."

Monica hesitated before nodding. "Sure," she said. She knew she would have to get used to this, it would probably her only way of making money for a while, as she knew very few people would hire you if you lived on the streets.

The singing went better than she thought it would. At first she had been nervous and unsure, but she had caught on to Phoebe's enthusiasm. She had ended up having a great time. Phoebe sang all sorts of original songs that she wrote herself and often just went off the cuff and made them up as she went along.

Before she knew it the game had ended and she and Phoebe were walking back to what was now her home.

"So, you've been on the streets for seven years?" Monica asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, time flies."

"Do you ever wish you could afford an apartment, or something?"

"Oh, all the time, but it's just too much. I mean even if I sing all day, I barely have anything left after I pay for food. I have a little saved up, but it's not much, only a couple hundred or so, and that's after seven years."

"Where do you keep the money?"

"Uh, I have a safety deposit box at the bank. I just leave any extra money there. I know it's safe."

"That's a good idea, I should get one of those," Monica said. " I have some stuff that I really don't wanna lose."

"Like what?"

"Oh, just some pictures and little keepsakes and stuff. It was everything I could fit in my bags when I left. My mom didn't give me much time."

Phoebe smiled sadly at her. "I'm sorry that had to happen to you."

Monica shrugged. "Maybe it's for the best, I mean, now she can't put me down anymore. It's very freeing."

"There's always a silver lining," was Phoebe's reply.

Monica smiled. Phoebe was obviously a good person. She was lucky to have met her.

"You know what we should do?" Monica asked.

"What?"

"We should find a way to get jobs and save up and share an apartment."

Phoebe smiled. "I'd love to, but there's no way to get a job. I've tried so many times, but no one will hire you, well, unless you want to be a hooker."

"No," Monica said, shaking her head and shuddering at the thought. "I really don't want that, but there's got to be a way of getting a job. If we keep at it, eventually someone will hire us."

Phoebe nodded. "You know what? You're right. Let's go get a job!"

A month later Monica found herself walking aimlessly down the sidewalk. Her hopes were dashed as she had been turned down at one interview after another for the past month. Phoebe was right, no one would hire them. Monica sighed and looked down at her feet as she continued down the sidewalk.

She was so distracted by watching her feet that she didn't notice the young man walking towards her, his head also down, in an attempt to balance the pile of boxes in his arm. They collided, both falling to the floor, along with the many boxes.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," Monica said quickly. This was becoming a very bad habit.

"Oh, no it's my fault," he assured her. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Yeah, well, me neither." Monica smiled and looked up at the man, who had gotten up and was offering her a hand. She was taken aback for a few seconds, like she momentarily lost control of his body. He was very attractive, very cute. He had deep blue eyes and slightly mussed up brown hair. There was something about him that just took her breath away. Monica jolted out of her trance and took his hand, getting up. He smiled warmly at her, not letting go of her hand. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Monica realized what was happening and pulled her hand back quickly. She covered by crouching down and helping him to pick up the spewed boxes.

"You don't have to help me," the man said.

"I don't mind, what's in the boxes, anyway?"

"Oh, not much, just some presents. Two of my friends have birthdays coming up, and I thought I'd get ahead of the game."

"That's always good," Monica said. "I like to get things done way ahead of time, that way I know there done."

There was an awkward pause, as he seemed to be struggling with what he wanted to say. Monica smiled inwardly, knowing he wanted to ask her out. She started as she crashed back down to reality. She couldn't date anyone; they would find out about her 'living conditions' and would take off. She knew she couldn't take that. It only took Monica a second to react. She glanced down at her watch, mumbled something about being late and took off down the street, leaving the man alone.

Chandler was shocked by the quick get away of the girl. It was like he was turned down before he even got to ask the question. It was weird, but he had felt a connection to her. He thought about going after her, but she had already disappeared into the crowd. Chandler shook his head, picked up the pile of boxes and continued down the street, trying to convince himself that he hadn't really felt anything, it was all in his head.


	3. Coffee

**_Chapter 3: Coffee_**

Monica shivered and pulled the blanket up higher, around her chin. She was cold. Very cold. It was the middle of January, and the temperature was well below zero. She and Phoebe were squished together, wearing as much clothes as they had, wrapped tightly in all the blankets they had, in an attempt to keep warm.

"How have you survived seven winters like this?" Monica asked through chattering teeth.

"I don't know," Phoebe replied. "All I know is that I'm freezing. You're right, we have to get an apartment."

Monica scoffed. "That's not going to happen. It's impossible to get a job."

"Nothing is impossible."

"I've been looking for six moths and no one will hire me."

"You haven't been looking lately."

"That's because I have given up," Monica said frustrated. "I can't get a job as anything, not a waitress or anything. Not even anything you don't need skills for. I just don't think it's ever going to happen."

"It will happen," Phoebe said. "Everything happens for a reason, just give it time."

"I know," Monica said sadly. "I just hope it happens soon."

A week later Monica made her way towards a smaller restaurant on a side street. She was already depressed as she had been laughed out of two interviews that morning and was prepared for her third. She took a deep breath before entering, and brushed her hair back with her fingers. She knew it was tangled and could only hope it didn't look too bad. She really wanted to make a good impression. Monica walked into the restaurant and asked to speak to the manager. She was led to an office in the back and asked to wait. It wasn't long before a man entered the room. He was older, maybe in his late fifties. His hair was sparse, and his face wrinkled, but had a warm smile.

"Hello, my name is Tom. What can I do for you today?" He was, smiling.

"Uh," Monica stuttered. "I was wondering if you had any openings. I'm looking for a job, any job." Monica knew she sounded desperate, but at the time she didn't care.

The man smiled sadly and gave her a once over. Monica knew he could tell she lived on the streets. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Monica."

"Monica what?"

Monica hesitated. "I don't use my last name. I'm not a part of that family anymore."

"Okay, I'm not going to play games with you. You seem like a smart person. Let me ask a couple questions before I consider anything, okay?"

Monica nodded. She was taken aback. No one had ever let her stay this long. They usually just gave her a once over asked her where she lived, knowing the answer and politely asked her to leave. It must be a good sign that he was still talking, and if nothing else, it was nice to be in a warm place.

"Okay," he said lightly. "Can I start by asking where you live?"

Monica hesitated. "In New York." She tried meekly. Then at Tom's look. "I-I don't really have a place right now…yet. I don't have a place yet. But I'm going to. As soon as I save up enough money."

"How old are you?"

Monica winced, but knew she had to tell the truth. "Eighteen."

"How long have you been out there?"

"About six months."

"Are you by yourself?"

Monica shook her head. "No, I have a friend, that I met. She's been on the streets since she was twelve."

"Did you run away?"

Monica shook her head. "No, my mom, she kicked me out. But it's not what you think. I'm not a bad kid. I'm really not. I've never been in trouble. I don't smoke or drink or do drugs or anything. I even graduated high school with honors."

He cut her off. "Why did your mom make you leave?" He asked gently.

Monica looked down, ashamed. "Because I wasn't good enough for her. I tried, I really did. I did everything she wanted me to, to the best of my abilities, but it just wasn't enough."

He smiled at her, feeling his paternal instincts kick in. "Do you have any plans for the future?"

Monica nodded. "Yes, my friend and I, Phoebe, we're going to share an apartment when we have the money to, that is. We just need jobs first, and…"

"And no one will hire you?"

Monica nodded. "Exactly."

He sighed and then looked at her and smiled. "Well, I have a fair amount of staff right now…"

Monica felt her hopes drop.

"But," he continued, "I could use some help after hours, cleaning up."

"Really?" Monica exclaimed.

He nodded. "You and your friend can come in every night and clean up. You would have to clean the floor and tables, and change all the tablecloths. Also you would have to clean the bathrooms and make sure the windows and chandeliers stayed tidy."

"Oh, we can definitely do that," Monica said.

"Okay, I will pay you each fifteen dollars a night and we can talk about more if this works out."

"Thank-you so much." Monica said. "And don't worry, it will definitely work out."

"Good, so I will see you and Phoebe at ten o'clock this evening, okay?"

"Okay, and thank you again."

Monica was still smiling as she walked excitedly down the street after telling Phoebe the good news. She and Phoebe had decided to get all cleaned up, so they went and showered at the Y and put on their best clothes. You couldn't even tell they were off the street. She passed a local coffee shop and decided that in celebration she would treat herself to a specialty hot chocolate. She entered the shop and got in line. There were a couple people ahead of her, so she prepared herself for a wait. A sudden feeling of familiarity and comfort washed over her. She tried to shake off the feeling and began looking around the shop, watching all the happy people. When she turned back around, she was surprised to see a familiar face in front of her.

"Hey," she said. "It's you!"

"And it's you," he said smiling.

"So, how did your friends like their gifts?" Monica asked, not knowing what to say. She had never been all that comfortable around guys.

"I'm sorry?"

"The ones you were carrying when we, uh, 'bumped' into each other."

"Oh, right," he said laughing. "Yeah, I hope they liked the presents."

There was a pause.

"Uh, do you think I could buy you a coffee?" he asked.

Monica hesitated. She so badly wanted to say yes. She felt something for this man, but she knew she couldn't get attached. "Uh, I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"No," Monica said.

"Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?"

"Well, no."

"Well then you don't have to leave right away and you're already in the coffee place, so you don't have to go anywhere."

"Okay," Monica relented, fighting off a smile.

"You don't have to sound so happy about it," he said sarcastically.

"No," Monica said. "I really do want to, it's just…I…I do want to," she finally said.

"Good," he said. "Because I do to."

Monica allowed him to pay for the drinks and followed him to a small table by the window. She was nervous. She really liked this guy, but knew nothing could happen between them. As soon as she found out where she lived he would be gone.

"So," she heard him start. "I don't know your name."

Monica smiled. "It's Monica."

"I'm Chandler." He extended his hand across the table for her to shake. She shook it and smiled.

"Do you live in the city?" Chandler asked.

Monica nodded; she did live in the city. "You?"

Chandler nodded. "I go to NYU. I live in residence. I'm in my third and final year. Did you go to school?"

Monica shook her head sadly. "I finished high school last year. I wanted to go to culinary school, but it didn't work out."

"Culinary school?"

Monica smiled. "I've always wanted to be a chef."

Chandler smiled. "It must be nice to have a dream. I never really knew what I wanted to do. I still don't."

"You have no ideas?"

"Well, I always wanted to write, but I know I'm not good enough to make a living at it."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"Thanks, but I guess I'll just have to see."

Their conversation continued on for a while, just sticking to small talk. It wasn't long before their cups were empty.

Monica stood up. "Well, thank-you for the coffee. I had a good time."

Chandler smiled. "Me too. Uh, do you think I could have your number? I would love to do this again sometime."

Monica saddened at his words. She didn't even have a phone number. She shook her head lightly. "I'm sorry," she said.

Chandler's expression saddened. "Why not? Was it me? It was me wasn't it?"

Monica shook her head. "No, it wasn't you. You were great. I would love to see you again. I just…I can't…" she sighed. "I'm not what you want, believe me. It would never work out."

"Shouldn't I be the one to decide that?" Chandler asked. "I feel…" he trailed off, embarrassed.

Monica smiled sadly. "I feel something too, but there are reasons."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you. They're personal. Just believe me when I say if things were different I would be all for it. I just can't."

Chandler nodded, accepting her answer. "Well, then I guess this is goodbye."

"Goodbye," Monica said. She hesitated before leaning in for a hug. It was just a friendly hug, but they both felt something. Monica pulled back slightly and gave him a quick kiss. She hated that she had to do this and knew she had to leave now or she would never get out of there. "Thanks again for the coffee," she said and she was gone.

Chandler sat in the coffee shop for a few more minutes, in shock. Twice now he had let her get away. Even though the kiss they shared had been short, he had felt something race through him. Something he had never felt before. He sighed sadly. He believed what she had said about personal reasons, he could see it in her eyes. She was struggling with something. He made up his mind then and there that if he ever saw her again he would make sure she knew that he didn't care what her reasons were. He just felt such a strong pull to get to know her.


	4. Dinner and a Job

_**Chapter 4: Dinner and a Job**_

Monica nervously entered the darkened restaurant, Phoebe on her heels. She spotted Tom at the other side of the room. He smiled and approached them.

"Right on time." He said and then introduced himself to Phoebe, before showing them where all the cleaning stuff was, handed them each an envelope and left. Monica hoped that was a sign that he trusted them.

Monica and Phoebe quickly got to work. They cleaned the floor and the tables and chairs. They made sure everything was spotless. Monica was determined not to lose this job. She would make sure Tom kept them on. When the place was clean they turned off all the lights, locked the door and went 'home.'

They continued on like this for a few weeks, singing at the station most mornings, cleaning and what not in the afternoons and working at the restaurant at night. They managed to put most of their money from the restaurant away, and were amazing a fair amount, for them anyway. Together they were making about two hundred dollars a week. Monica was ecstatic. With this much money going away, she knew they would be able to afford an apartment eventually.

April came and they celebrated Phoebe's twentieth birthday very low key. Monica bought her a cupcake and managed to find a candle somewhere, which she lit and attempted to sing Phoebe's own version of the birthday song. Phoebe had done something similar for Monica's birthday in September.

After they had worked at the restaurant for three months, Tom called them into his office one night.

"I would like to start by saying I am very impressed with your work. We have not had one complaint about cleanliness since you started working here."

"Thank-you," Monica said.

Tom continued. "If you would like, I am willing to extend your responsibilities."

Both Monica and Phoebe nodded, willingly.

Tom smiled. "Good. I would like you two to not only clean the front and the bathrooms, but the kitchen itself, do the dishes, clean the counters, and all the cooking stuff. I would be willing to raise your wages to twenty-five dollars each, per night."

Both Phoebe and Monica agreed willingly and got right to work. It wasn't long before another three months had passed. Altogether, they had put away about seven thousand dollars, which they deposited into Monica's still existing bank account, for safe keeping.

On the one-year anniversary of Monica's life on the streets, she realized that she and Phoebe had enough put away that they could start looking for a small apartment. Together they looked at a few, but they were all too expensive. They wanted to make sure they were making enough to be able to pay for upkeep of the apartment.

Eventually they found something small, just one room, with a small bathroom off of it. The room had a window into a small courtyard on one side, and a small kitchen on the other. The kitchen consisted of a mini fridge, stove, sink and a couple cupboards. The bathroom had a small sink, toilet, and shower. Well, it wasn't really a shower, there was a faucet coming out of the wall, and the only thing stopping the water from going everywhere was a small lip on the floor. The whole thing was falling apart; the paint was chipping, and it had a weird smell, but for them, it was perfect. The rent was cheap, and if they didn't use hot water and used very little electricity, they would be fine, and even have some money left over.

Both Monica and Phoebe were ecstatic the day they moved in. They had no furniture and had to sleep on the floor, but it was better then the ground outside. After a few days of living there, they happened across a mattress being left our for garbage pick-up. They quickly carried it home. They found some nice dishes and a phone at the good will down the street and were able to hook-up the phone so long as they didn't make any long distance calls. They were beginning to feel unstoppable.

Monica was at the grocery store, picking up some cheap food, mostly stuff that was close to its expiry date, when she felt a familiar presence behind her. She turned around and smiled.

"Hey, it's you," she said.

"And it's you," Chandler answered, smiling.

They both laughed.

"So," Chandler started. "How have you been?"

"Good," Monica said truthfully, "you?"

"I can't complain," Chandler answered. "I graduated and just got an apartment in the city."

Monica smiled. "That's good. So, did you ever figure out what you wanted to do?"

Chandler shook his head. "Nah, but I got a pretty good job, just a temp job, mind you."

"Doing what?"

"Data processing."

"Oh, what do you do?"

"That's a good question," Chandler said smiling. "But apparently I'm good at it."

Monica laughed.

Chandler remembered the promise he had made to himself. "So, those _reasons_ you had before, are they still there?"

Monica hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, but they're slowly being phased out."

Chandler felt his heart skip a beat, hoping that meant what he hoped it did. "Does that mean I can take you out for dinner tonight?"

Monica sucked in a breath knowing she couldn't say no. "Sure," she said. "But it can't be late."

"That's fine, how is six?"

"It's perfect."

"Uh, I'll pick you up, just let me know where you live."

Monica froze. She didn't want Chandler to see the apartment she lived in. Sure it was a million times better than the streets, but it was far from glamorous. "Uh, no, that's okay, you don't have to pick me up. I'll meet you wherever we go."

"Are you sure?" Chandler asked.

Monica nodded. They made plans and went their separate ways.

Monica paid for her items and made her way back home. She barged in the door, to find Phoebe sitting on the floor, staring at the wall.

"Pheebs, what are you doing?"

"Pretending to be watching television."

"Oookay." Monica had long given up any attempts to understand her best friend.

"What's up?" Phoebe asked. "You look flustered and your aura is all floppy."

Monica laughed nervously. "Oh, Pheebs, I did something stupid."

"What did you do?"

"I agreed to a date."

Phoebe screamed excitedly. "A date! With who?"

"Chandler, remember the guy I told you about?"

Phoebe nodded.

"Yeah, I ran into him at the grocery store."

"So why is this a bad thing?"

"Because," Monica said, like it was obvious. "I'm going to get attached and he's going to find out and freak out and I'll never see him again."

"Why do you think he'll find out?"

"Because, if you date someone it's inevitable, eventually he'll wonder why he doesn't know where I live."

"Okay, but why do you think he'll freak out?"

"Because he's so much better than me. He went to school, he has a job."

"Did you ever stop to think that he's s good guy and won't care about your past?"

Monica shook her head and sighed sadly. "Things like that don't happen to me."

"Well, maybe the universe owes you."

Monica smiled. Although she worried about Phoebe's sanity sometimes, she really was a good friend. She didn't know where she would be without her.

She was nervous as she waited for Chandler in front of the restaurant. She had on the best, cleanest, newest looking outfit she had, but she still felt underdressed, even though it was a casual restaurant. She spotted Chandler approaching, wearing khaki's and a sweater. He looked really good. He smiled when he saw her and gave her a quick hug. They entered together and were seated at a small table near the back. Monica ordered water and a small salad, claiming she had eaten a big lunch. Really, she didn't want to pay much if he didn't pay the bill, and she knew she had to offer. Chandler declined when she offered to pay. After they ate, they sat at the table for a few hours, talking. They had a great time and Monica was surprised when she glanced at her watch.

"Wow, look at the time," Monica said. She had to leave now if she was going to be on time for work. She was meeting Phoebe at the restaurant. "I really have to get going."

Chandler looked disappointed, but didn't pressure her to stay. "Can I see you again?" He asked, hopefully.

Monica hesitated. "Chandler," she started. "I like you, I really do, but I'm really not what you want."

"Can I be the one to decide that?" Chandler asked. He sighed. "I feel something towards you, I don't know what it is, but it's strong. I really want to get to know you better."

Monica sighed. "I want that, too."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Just…personal stuff."

"The same personal stuff from six months ago?"

Monica nodded.

"Whatever the problem is, I don't care. And if you can't tell me right now then that's fine. Please, just give _us_ a chance. Please?"

Monica smiled, knowing she was crazy to do what she was about to do. She knew there was a huge chance of her getting hurt. It was almost inevitable. She took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay?" Chandler asked, not sure he had heard her.

Monica nodded. "Okay," she repeated. She smiled.


	5. Taking Steps

_**Chapter 5: Taking Steps**_

Monica made her way quickly down the sidewalk, towards the restaurant she worked at. She saw Phoebe entering ahead of her and called out to her friend.

"Hey Pheebs!"

Phoebe waited, holding the door open until Monica had entered as well. "So?" She said.

"So, what?" Monica asked, innocently.

"How was the date?"

Monica smiled and blushed. "It was okay."

"Just okay?"

Monica looked up, "okay, it was wonderful, he's just so…perfect."

Phoebe smiled. "Some-bod-y's in lo-ove," she chanted. This only made Monica blush a deeper shade of red. "Are you going to see him again?"

Monica nodded, almost hesitantly.

"What's wrong with that?"

Monica sighed. "It's just… he's going to hate me when he finds out. He says he'll be fine with anything, but he really has no idea what he's getting himself into."

"What, that you lived on the streets?"

"Yeah."

"You don't know that."

"Don't I?" Monica said. "Do you have any idea how many interviews I was laughed out of because I was from the streets? I hate it. It's so defining. It's like 'oh, you're homeless, so you're not a good person.'

Phoebe nodded. "I know, I hate it too, but we're past that now. I'm sure he'll realize what kind of a person you are when he finds out how far you've come. Not many people can overcome what we did. That means something."

"I hope so," Monica said, making a silent prayer.

Over the next few moths, Monica continued to see Chandler. She was still very secretive and used any and every excuse she could think of as to why he still didn't know where she lived. She couldn't let him see her small dingy apartment. There's no way he would want to stay with her. She knew she was very often a disappointment to people, just like her mother said, and she didn't want to disappoint him. She would wait until she and Phoebe could at least afford a better apartment before she ever even thought about inviting him over.

Financially, she and Phoebe were doing pretty well. They were making enough to pay for their apartment and food. Monica loved the feeling of being self-reliant, like she could take care of herself without any help. When she and Phoebe had been working at the restaurant for a year, Tom decided they were ready to work during the day, as well. They would often put a shift in as a waitress before cleaning at the end of the day. They took every shift they could get and found they were able to afford a better place to live.

The apartment they found was still very small and not very glamorous, but it was a huge step up from their previous one. It had two small bedrooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. Best of all, it was partially furnished. There was a small, single bed in each room, and a kitchen table, three mismatching chairs, and an old couch. They packed up their dishes, and toiletries, and all of their other belongings and said goodbye to the small, dingy apartment that had been their first step in getting off the streets. They left the old mattress that they had slept on for the past six months for whoever would be in the apartment next, hoping it would be helpful to them.

They found they were making enough to afford the new apartment, and could even have hot water! This was amazing to them. One of the best parts was that the phone company had let them keep their old number. To Monica, this meant not having to tell Chandler that she had moved. She knew he would be suspicious.

About a week after the moving day, Monica met Chandler at his apartment. He had called her and asked her to come over. She had been there a couple of times, and it was nice. It was obviously a bachelor's apartment, with two barcheloungers and no decorative stuff, like pictures, but it was very comfortable. Monica knocked timidly, not sure what he was planning. So far she had managed to avoid the subject of sex with him, but she knew that couldn't last forever. She and Chandler had barely gone past first base; which was as far as she had ever gone. She was too scared to bring it up, and skirted the topic when he tried to. She didn't want to admit that she was a virgin. It would probably be a disappointment.

She heard movement and then saw the door open in front of her.

"Hey," Chandler said, smiling at her. "It's you," this had become their trademark greeting, from the time they met in the grocery store.

"It's you," Monica replied, automatically, smiling.

Chandler stepped back, inviting her in. She smiled and entered.

Chandler could tell Monica was nervous, and he wasn't sure why. He watched her step hesitantly into the room. In an attempt to put her at ease he pulled her into a hug, which she returned after a moment. She seemed to calm down and settled into the hug, her head resting on his shoulder. Chandler was still in awe of this girl. She was so secretive and timid, he wondered what had happened to make her that way, and he wished he could help her. He was just waiting for her to let him in. He knew she had very low self-esteem, and self-confidence, but he didn't know why. She was absolutely amazing and he was in awe of her, but she never seemed proud of herself and avoided any topic relating to her life and family. The only friend of hers he had met, or even heard of, was Phoebe.

When he felt like she was ready, Chandler pulled away from the hug, planting a small kiss on her forehead before completely pulling away. She smiled up at him, and squeezed his hand gently. He took that as a good sign.

As soon as his arms were around her, Monica relaxed. She hated that they had been dating for six months and she was still so nervous around him, but as soon as he hugged her it was like all her fears disappeared and she felt completely comfortable. He just had that effect on her. She felt him pull back and kiss her on the forehead. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand before moving further into the room. She spotted his roommate on the other side of the room, just exiting his room.

"Hi, Joey," Monica called out.

"Hey, Mon," Joey replied, a smile on his face as always. Monica liked Joey. He was immature and wasn't the brightest, but what he lacked in brain cells, he made up for in heart. He was one of the most genuine people she had ever met. She knew he was a good friend to Chandler; the two were very close. Joey was an aspiring actor, and Monica had faith in him. If someone had their heart set on something, it would happen. She knew from experience.

Joey glanced down at his watch and cringed. "Sorry, but I gotta go," he said to Monica. "I got a date." Then to Chandler, "Don't expect me home."

Chandler shook his head. "I never do, man."

Joey laughed and left.

"So," Monica began. "What do we have planned for tonight?"

"Well, I got some movies, and I though we could order some pizza. How does that sound?"

Monica smiled. "It sounds perfect."

"Good," Chandler said. "I thought it would be a nice break from going out."

A few hours later Monica and Chandler were curled up together on the couch, contentedly munching on pizza. They were both laughing at the movie playing on the television. Monica had forgotten her earlier fears and was now quite comfortable in her position on the couch. She was curled up, leaning on Chandler. His arm was wrapped loosely around her shoulder. It wasn't long before the movie ended.

Chandler pulled his arm back and leaned forward, leaning forward to rewind the movie. "Do you want to start another movie?"

Monica glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed. She shook her head. "No, I can't. I gotta take off in less than an hour. I'm sorry."

Chandler smiled reassuringly. "It's problem. I can just stay here and watch," he paused as he checked the name of the last movie, "Bambi, by myself. Wait a minute. Bambi! I didn't rent this."

Monica laughed at him, one eyebrow raised. "Then where did it come from?"

Chandler racked his brain. "Joey must have rented it."

"Why?"

"He likes these movies, I don't really know why. Just don't tell him I told you."

Monica laughed. "Okay." She stopped laughing when she noticed Chandler staring intently at her. "What?"

Chandler snapped out of it. "Nothing, you're just so beautiful."

Monica looked down. Chandler noticed her expression change. Her eyes saddened. "No I'm not," she whispered.

Chandler reached his hand out, placing it gently under her chin, making her look up at him. "Yes, you are," he whispered gently. "And don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise."

Monica said nothing. He noticed one lone tear run down her face. He had never seen her cry before. "I'm serious, Mon. You don't seem to think enough of yourself. You really are beautiful, okay?"

Monica nodded gently, more tears running down her face. She leaned forward slightly and Chandler took this as a sign. He leaned in and pulled her into a tight hug, holding her close while she cried. He could only hope he was helping her.

Monica felt herself breaking down as she heard Chandler tell her she was beautiful. She knew that it wasn't true. It couldn't be true. She was nothing special. She had been told that for her entire life. Tears came rushing to her eyes and as much as she struggled, she couldn't stop them. Being on the streets had hardened her and she hadn't cried in a very long time, but she couldn't stop now. It had been building for two long. She hated herself for crying in front of him, but was grateful when he wrapped her arms around her.

"I-I'm sorry," Monica said when she finally pulled back.

Chandler smiled sadly at her. "Sweetie, you don't have to be sorry. You're allowed to be upset, you know. I want to be here for you, if you'll let me. Okay?"

Monica paused before nodding. "Okay," she finally managed to say. "Thank-you," she whispered.

"For what?"

Monica looked into his eyes. "For being here and being so patient. I know I'm a pain to be with."

Chandler shook his head. "No you're not," Chandler told her. "You're amazing. I know it's only been six months, but I can't imagine not being with you. I…I love you."

Monica felt her mouth gape slightly and stared up at Chandler in shock. She realized then that no one had ever said that to her before. No one; not even her mom or dad. Monica stuttered slightly for a second. "I love you, too," she finally told him quietly.

Monica was running a few minutes late when she entered the restaurant that evening. She spotted Phoebe wiping down tables on the other side of the room.

"Hi, Pheebs," Monica called out. "I'm so sorry I'm late."

Phoebe shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I've only been here for a few minutes myself." She gave Monica a suggestive smile. "So, why were you late. Did you and Chandler lose track of time in a moment of passion?" She asked jokingly.

"Uh, no," Monica said. She paused. "He, uh, he told me he loved me."

"Really!" Phoebe exclaimed.

Monica smiled shyly and nodded.

"Oh my God! That's so great!" Phoebe dropped the rag she was using on the table and ran over to Monica, pulling her into a hug. She screamed and jumped up and down, very excited. Monica caught on to some of Phoebe's enthusiasm and jumped up and down with her. Eventually they settled down and got to work. Phoebe noticed that Monica wore a small smile for the rest of the night. She was glad to see her friend so happy. Monica had always been really hard on herself and Phoebe was sure that Chandler was good for Monica.


	6. Calling Back

_**Chapter 6: Calling Back **_

The following day, Monica and Phoebe had the day off of work, which was very rare. The restaurant was closed to be re-painted and would be open again in a few days. Phoebe decided that now that she was making money she wanted to go somewhere. She didn't know where she was going, but packed up a small bag and said goodbye. She would be back in a day or two.

Monica found herself alone. After debating with herself for the better half of ten minutes, she made up her mind to call Chandler. She was about to pick it up when it rang. Monica jumped back slightly and laughed at herself. She picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" She said still laughing.

"Hi, Sweetie," Chandler's voice filtered through the phone.

"Hi," Monica managed to get out.

"What's so funny?" Chandler asked.

"N-nothing," Monica said, getting a hold of herself. "It's just that I was about to call you, and I was reaching for the phone and it rang. And it scared me and then it was _you_."

Chandler laughed. "It's like one mind," he said jokingly.

"So," Monica said. "What's up?"

"Not much. Just wanted to see what you were up to tonight."

"Nothing actually," Monica replied.

"Great, do you wanna do something?"

"Sure, like what?"

"I don't know. You chose."

Monica smiled. He was always so polite. "Well, I kinda liked what we did last night."

"Pizza and a movie?"

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Sounds perfect."

"Okay, I'll see you at six?"

"Six is good."

"Good," Monica said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"I, uh, I love you." Monica whispered. She waited, but only heard the dial tone. She shook her head, hoping he simply hadn't heard her than didn't want to say it. She wasn't sure how often she was supposed to say it now. And she was still so afraid he was going to leave her that she didn't want to do anything wrong. She never felt completely secure in the relationship. Monica sighed sadly as she replaced the receiver in the holder. It would bug her all day now.

Monica only got a few steps away from the phone when it rang again.

She picked it up. "Hello?"

"I love you, too," was all she heard before the phone went dead again. Monica smiled. She didn't know what she had done to get so lucky. Her emotions got the better of her and she didn't bother fighting the stream of tears that were determined to make their way down her cheeks. She couldn't believe they had been together for six months and he was still around; still wanted to spend time with her. Monica collapsed onto the couch, clutching a worn pillow and allowed herself cry. There was no one around so she could cry safely without anyone finding out. No one could ever know how weak she was.

Monica cried for a good hour before forcing herself up, off the couch. She made her way to the bathroom and had a shower. She got out and got dressed. Monica glanced at her watch and noticed it was getting late. She would have to leave soon if she wanted to get to Chandler's on time. She always gave herself lots of time, as it was a fairly long walk. She rarely took a cab, as it was too expensive.

Chandler got home from work and winced. It was almost six. He jumped into the shower and then quickly got dressed, pulling on a pair of pants and a polo shirt. He was just attempting to dry his hair with a towel when he heard a knock at the door.

He quickly walked over to the door and opened it. He found a slightly sad looking Monica on the other side of the door.

"Hey," he said softly. "What's wrong?" She looked low.

Monica offered him a small smile. "Nothing."

Chandler gave her a look. "I don't believe you," he said lightly.

Monica sighed and tilted her head back and forth a few times, debating with herself. "I…it's just…," she sighed. "No one's ever done that for me before, or even anything like it. I wasn't expecting it."

Chandler was confused. "Like what?"

"You…you called me back…" she trailed off, once again close to tears.

Chandler didn't know what to say. He had simply called her back earlier because he had hung up before it registered in his mind what she had said. He had had no idea that it had meant so much to her. Chandler didn't hesitate before he pulled Monica into a hug, holding her close. He sighed and closed his eyes, burying his head into her shoulder, inhaling her scent. He loved that she never wore perfume.

Monica felt Chandler pull her into a hug and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She buried her head against his chest and sighed deeply, reveling at the feeling of being in his arms. Monica closed her eyes and felt Chandler begin to sway back and forth gently. It was almost like they were dancing.

After a few minutes, Monica pulled back. "Thank-you," she whispered, sorry that he had to see her break down two days in a row.

Chandler sighed. He could see the pain and sadness in her eyes. It was so pure, so real. And it made him feel so awful. "Sweetie, you don't have to thank me. In fact, you shouldn't thank me. I like being here for you; I love it. And I love you, okay? And I'm going to start telling you that all the time, until you start to believe it, okay?"

Monica looked down and nodded.

Chandler reached his hand out, placing it gently under her chin. He gently forced her to look up, into his eyes. "Mon, I don't know what happened to you, but I want you to know that it doesn't matter to me. I love you."

"I love you, too," Monica said quietly, looking down again.

"What are you thinking right now?" Chandler asked gently.

Monica hesitated and seemed to be about to say something a couple times, but ended up saying nothing.

"Mon, please let me in," Chandler pleaded, almost whispering.

Monica looked up, right into his eyes, exposing all her emotions in her eyes. Some walls had come down and he could see so much hurt, so much pain. "I can't," was all she said before looking back down.

Chandler stepped forward, taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently for support. "Why not?"

Monica hesitated. "Because you won't want me anymore."

Chandler gasped gently. "What are you talking about?"

"You wouldn't want me if you knew that I…you wouldn't want me. No one ever does."

"Try me," Chandler said.

Monica again looked up. She hesitated, but knew she had to tell him. After six months she owed him. She sighed, knowing she couldn't put it off anymore. This was it, the end of their relationship. She knew he would leave her now. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the inevitable.

"I'm a disappointment. I always have been and I always will be. No matter what I do, it's never good enough. I try…" She trailed off.

Chandler was in shock. "How could you think that?" He said softly, causing Monica to look up at him. "Monica, you are a lot of things, but you've never been a disappointment. Never. Okay?"

Monica shook her head. "But I am. I always have been. I was never even supposed to be born. I was an accident. I wasn't even wanted. I just get in everybody's way-"

Chandler cut her off by pulling her into a tight hug, holding her close, feeling tears come to his eyes now. He found he could actually, physically feel her pain. "I don't know who has made you feel like that, Mon, but I kinda like you in my way," he said smiling. "You've been anything but a disappointment. How could you think that about yourself?"

Monica shrugged. "Cause it's true."

Chandler pushed her away slightly, just far enough to look her in the eye. "No, it's not. Who told you this?"

Monica hesitated. "My mother."

"Your mom told you this?"

"Well, she's not my mom anymore."

"Why not?"

"She didn't want to be. She got rid of me as soon as she could."

"Got rid of you?"

"She kicked me out."

"Oh my God, Mon, that's so terrible. I'm so sorry. You don't deserve to feel this way."

"Don't I?"

"Absolutely not," Chandler said truthfully. "Mon, you are a wonderful person. How could anyone not want you?"

Monica looked up in shock, amazed by his words. "You…you still want to be with me?"

"Of course," Chandler said, pulling her into yet another hug. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I'm so…"

"So what?" Chandler asked.

"So everything bad."

"No you're not," Chandler said. "You are not. You are an amazing person. I love you so much, Mon."

Monica couldn't say anything. She was overcome by emotion; pain and hurt of what her mother had done to her, the disappointment of being herself, and relief and amazement that he was still here with her, that he hadn't taken off. For the first time in her life, Monica completely broke down, practically collapsing onto the floor, leaving herself completely vulnerable. All of the walls were now down. Chandler caught her, and gently lowered her to the floor, sitting beside her and pulling her into his lap. He held her close while she cried, gently reassuring her.

"I had just graduated," Monica said as she cried. "And she kicked me out. She gave me an hour to pack. I had nowhere to go. She knew that. I didn't have any money. I took a bus to the city. That's where I met Phoebe. She lived on the streets since she was twelve. We lived on the streets together for a year. I couldn't get a job. No one would hire me. It took me six months to get a job. I barely made anything. We had to work up from the bottom, the very bottom. We finally got an apartment. A little tiny thing. We slept on a mattress we found on the sidewalk. We barely had anything. We finally got a better apartment. It's so much better than the old one, but it's still not even close to being good enough."

"Good enough?" Chandler asked.

"For you."

Chandler felt his heart break at her words. "Mon, you don't have to be 'good enough' for me. I love you for who you are, not where you live, or what you do. Those things don't matter. You're a good person, Mon, you are. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"How can you love me like that? Don't you get it? I lived on the streets. I have no money. I earn practically nothing. I look like crap. I have no family. I have exactly one friend, who is no better off than me. I have _nothing_. I've never even…" Monica trailed off.

"You've never even what?" Chandler prompted gently.

Monica inhaled deeply, fighting off another wave of tears. "I've never…I haven't…I'm…a virgin." Monica winced at the word, looking at Chandler to see his reaction.

"So?" Chandler asked.

Monica was too speechless to respond.

"Mon, I don't care where you live, or have lived. I don't care where you work, or how much money you make. I don't care about your family life, or lack of. I don't care what you have, or what your background is, or what you've done, or haven't done. I love _you,_ Mon. I'm not in this relationship for money, or prestige, or sex. I'm in it because the very first day I saw you, when we bumped into each other on the sidewalk that day, I felt something. It wasn't some fairytale love at first site. It was something different, something I've never felt before. It was like I knew that we belonged together. And I still do."

When Monica didn't say anything, Chandler continued. "I'm sorry you had a crappy life so far, Mon. I just want you to know that you aren't alone. You know about my parents. I had a crappy childhood, too. And you know what else. In my whole life, no one ever told me that they loved me, not even my parents. You're the first person who ever said that to me and the only person who I ever said it to." Chandler stopped talking as he felt Monica lift her head up off of his chest.

"Really?" She asked meekly.

"Really," Chandler said, smiling.

Monica returned the smile. "You're the first person to tell me you love me, too. And the first person I ever said it to."

Chandler sighed and pulled her closer. He had had no idea that her opinion of herself was so low, that her self-confidence was almost non-existent.

After a few minutes, Monica lifted her head up, off of Chandler's shoulder. He smiled gently at her and leaned in, planting a light, comforting kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss, her hands going up to his hair. He felt her laugh slightly and pull back.

"What?" He asked softly.

"Your hair is wet," She told him.

Chandler ran his hand through his hair, and laughed as well. "Right," he said. "I just got out of the shower."

Monica sighed happily, and leaned her head gently against Chandler's chest. It was nice to laugh, to lighten the mood, but she was still in shock that she had 'bared her soul' and he was still here. He still wanted her. He still loved her. Monica sighed again and felt Chandler gently pull her to her feet and over to one of the chairs. He sat down, pulling her on top of him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her small frame and rested his head on hers.

Just the action from Chandler was enough to put Monica back into tears. Chandler said nothing, only held her gently while she cried, rocking her gently back and forth.

_**AN: So, I know its been really Monica-dramatic, but she needed to hit the bottom and get support from Chandler so she can build herself back up properly.**_


	7. Not an Accident

_**Chapter 7: Not an Accident**_

Monica didn't know how long they sat there, on the chair, Chandler's arms wrapped tightly around her, but she didn't care. In her mind the longer they sat there, the longer it would be until he realized what he was doing and wanted to stay away from her. She was amazed that after he had learned so much about her life and was still here now.

Chandler held Monica tightly until she finally stopped crying. He then carefully lifted her off of him, and stood up.

Monica felt Chandler trying to get out from under her and immediately thought the worst. _This was it. He was leaving. He didn't want to be with her anymore. He wanted out. He had to get away from her._ Silently, she watched him walk across the room and pick up two objects off of the top of the television. He turned to look at her.

"Which movie do you want to watch first?" He asked.

Monica almost laughed at how stupid she was being. She was overreacting to everything and she had to stop. "You choose," she told him quietly.

Chandler seemed to weigh his options for a second before picking one and plopping it into the VCR. He then returned to the chair, and again pulled Monica into his arms. He watched the opening credits roll out and by the time the actual movie started, he knew she was fast asleep. Chandler sighed softly; still not able to process everything that had happened to her. He was glad that she had trusted him to finally tell him everything, that she had allowed herself to drop all of her walls and let him see her real self. It still troubled him immensely that she had such a low self-perception, like she was ready for him to leave at any time. He was determined to convince her otherwise, to help her build up her confidence and become the person he knew she deserved to be. He could barely believe what she had told him. How could anyone, especially her mother, say such things to her? She was so perfect and beautiful and amazing. He loved her so much. He was actually in awe that you could love someone this much. Chandler decided to leave the movie playing, only turned down the volume. It wasn't long before he to was asleep.

Monica felt her body begin to fight for consciousness as she slowly began to awake. Currently, she was somewhere in between awake and sleep, unaware of her whereabouts or surroundings, but knew she felt safe and comfortable, wherever she was. As her body started to win the battle between awake and asleep, she was aware of more; warmth, safety, and above all else, love. She slowly opened her eyes, and blinked them a few times to focus. It was then that she realized she was not in her apartment, not in her bedroom with the bare walls, on the small, hard single bed. She glanced around, immediately recognizing the apartment as Chandler's. She then became aware of the fact that she was on the chair beside him, his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. Monica couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comfortable before in her life. She wondered briefly why she was there, before the events of the previous night came rushing back. She remembered all that had happened, everything that she had told Chandler.

Monica closed her eyes briefly before glancing around the room, trying to find out how late it was. The small clock on the VCR told her it was early in the morning. She stayed still for a few moments, trying to decide what to do. Before she could make up her mind, she realized she badly had to go to the bathroom, but she soon as she moved away from him, Chandler's arms tightened slightly around her. At first she thought she had woken him up, but she glanced behind her to see he was still asleep. His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful. Monica smiled to herself. It told her something that his sub-conscious self wanted her close to him. She gently pulled away and hurried across the room to the bathroom.

When she exited the bathroom, she spotted Chandler sitting in the chair, blinking sleepily, watching her.

"Hey," she said gently, walking towards him.

"Hey," he reciprocated, standing up. "I guess we fell asleep."

Monica giggled.

"What?"

"Nothing, you're just stating the obvious, is all."

Chandler smiled warmly, pulling her into a hug.

Monica sighed as she relaxed into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder.

Chandler pulled back a little, resting his forehead against hers. "I love you," he whispered.

Monica smiled. "I love you, too." She tilted her head slightly, brushing her lips up against his. She immediately felt the sparks that she felt each and every time they kissed. It was like a connection, that only they could feel, like they were the only two people in the world.

Chandler kissed back, softly, allowing Monica to make any advancement, which she did. She deepened the kiss, and wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss got even deeper and Chandler felt Monica's hand cautiously reaching for the hem of his shirt. He took this as a sign and slowly began moving his hands around to the front of her body, and slowly moved them upwards. He was startled when Monica suddenly jumped back. He looked at her, concerned.

"I-I'm sorry," Monica stuttered. "I-I can't, I haven't…I'm scared, cause I haven't…and—"

Chandler cut her off by placing his finger gently on her lips, silencing her. He smiled and stepped forward, pulling her into a light hug. "Shh, sweetie, it's okay. I love you, don't worry. Nothing has to happen until you are ready, okay?"

Monica nodded, her head against his chest. Chandler felt her shaking slightly in his arms. "Oh, Mon," he whispered. "It's okay, really. We can wait as long as you want, I'm in no rush. Look, it's late and you're tired-"

Monica pulled back. "No rush?" She asked loudly. "Chandler, we've been dating for more than six months, for crying out loud! That's a lot longer than a rush. I just…I wish I was normal."

"Normal?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah, normal. Like every other person in this world. I wish I could trust myself. I wish I could trust you. I wish I could trust people in general, but I can't. I hate myself. I hate who I am. I hate everything about myself." Monica trailed off for a few seconds. "Why are you here?"

"I'm sorry?" Chandler asked.

"Why are you here?" Monica repeated. "Why are you with me? I'll never be good enough for you. I was never good enough for anyone. I was an accident. I wasn't supposed to be here. They didn't want me. I'll never be what you want. You've invested so much time in this relationship for nothing. My God, after all this time, and I won't even let you get close to me. Some girlfriend I am, I won't even have sex with my boyfriend." Monica's eyes began to well up again. "I should just leave now. It'll save you the trouble of telling me to go." She tried to pull away from Chandler, but he wouldn't let her.

"Don't you dare," Chandler said firmly, holding her in front of him, not letting her run. He knew if she left now he would lose her forever. "First of all Mon, I'm not in this relationship for sex. I'm in it because the first time I met you, when we bumped into each other on the street, I felt something for you, something that I still can't describe." Chandler paused, knowing he had already told her this only a few hours before, but knowing she had to hear it again. "I love you, Mon, and I always will. And I don't see the time we have been together as 'invested time,' I see it as the best time of my life. I love spending time with you, Mon. I love it and I don't want you to go, ever. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, okay? For so long I was terrified of commitment, and then I met you and nothing else mattered. The thought of spending one day less than the rest of my life with you terrifies me. And how can you think you were an accident?"

"Because I am. I have no reason for being here, for being alive." Monica said, without looking up.

"I can prove to you that's not true."

Monica looked up at him, her eyes showing just how vulnerable she was. "How?" She asked softly.

Chandler smiled. "I know you were meant to be born." He paused for a moment, looking Monica right in the eye. "Because you are the person I was supposed to fall in love with. You are the person I am supposed to be with. And I love you so much that I know there is no way this could be an accident." He felt Monica shudder slightly as her eyes welled up with tears.

"Thank-you," was all she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Chandler smiled and held her close.

"Thank-you," Chandler told her. "I love having you in my life."

"Even though I'm such a pain?"

"Even though you're such a pain," Chandler said jokingly, causing Monica to giggle slightly. "You're not a pain, okay Mon? So you've got issues, so has everybody."

Monica sighed and stepped back, allowing her hand to linger on the side of his face. He lifted his hand up to her face, gently wiping the one lone tear that fell from her eyes. She smiled at him and he used his other hand to grab her hand and kiss it gently. "I really do love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered, and then sighed. "I guess I should be getting home now."

Chandler shook his head, but Monica cut him off before she continued.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to get away, I'm just gonna go home."

Chandler laughed slightly. "That's not what I meant either. It's just…we live in New York City. I don't want you going home at three o'clock in the morning."

Monica smiled at Chandler. "I know how to take care of myself," she said.

"I don't doubt that, but there's a lot of weird people out at night. I don't want you to get hurt."

Monica offered him a slight smile, and tilted her head lightly. "Chandler," she began. "I know what kind of people are out at night. I spent a year sleeping on the streets at night."

Chandler seemed to think for a second. "Right," he said. "I didn't think of that. Well, at least let me walk you home."

Monica shook her head, she still didn't want him seeing the apartment she lived in. "No, that's okay. I think I can manage by myself."

"I don't want you walking home alone," Chandler repeated.

Monica sighed. "Then what do you propose I do?"

"Stay here," Chandler said, after a moment of hesitation.

"Chandler," Monica started. "You know I'm just not ready."

"Oh, I know," Chandler assured her. "And nothing has to happen. You can have my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, I couldn't let you sleep on the couch."

"It's really not a problem."

"No, it's okay, I have no problem walking home."

"Well, I have a problem with you walking home."

Monica sighed. "Fine, I'll stay here, but _I'll_ sleep on the couch."

"Now, what kind of gentleman would I be if I made the lady sleep on the couch?"

"First of all, you're not making me sleep on the couch. I'm sleeping on the couch voluntarily. Second of all, I wasn't aware you were a _gentleman._" Monica said, her tone light and joking.

Chandler laughed. "Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, you just go ahead and sleep in the bed. I have no problem with the couch."

"I will not let you sleep on the couch, while I'm sleeping in the bed."

Chandler seemed to contemplate something for a moment. "How about we both sleep in the bed?"

Monica seemed taken aback for a moment. "You mean just _sleep_?"

Chandler nodded.

"Okay," Monica said after she had considered the offer. She smiled. "I like that idea."

"Good," Chandler said, also smiling. "Here, I'll see if I can find something for you to wear." He walked to his room, and then returned with his smallest pair of sweat pants and an old Knicks sweatshirt. Monica smiled at him gratefully. She took them and walked to the bathroom to get changed. When she returned, Chandler was exiting his room, wearing clothes very similar to hers.

"We match," Monica said, jokingly.

Chandler laughed. "I'll be ready in a minute. I just have to go to the bathroom. Make yourself comfortable."

"Okay," Monica said. She walked towards Chandler's room, cautiously opening the door. She stood there for quite some time, just staring at his bed, not sure of what she was going to do. She was startled when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her.

"Sorry," Chandler said, from behind her. He gently rested his head on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Monica said, timidly.

"You're shaking."

Monica hesitated. "I've never done this before."

Chandler silently pulled away and walked around to face her. He gently took her hand. "Trust me," he told her.

Monica was about to say something when she looked up, into Chandler's eyes. It calmed her. She nodded to him, telling him she was okay, telling him that she trusted him.

Chandler led her forward, and pulled the covers back. He sat down, and moved to the middle of the bed, pulling Monica down beside him. Monica sat down, and turned to look at Chandler.

Chandler was taken aback by the look on her face. She looked so scared and so vulnerable, but there was also trust there. He offered her a smile and laid down, his arm outstretched beside him, an invitation to lie down. She seemed to contemplate for a second before doing so.

Monica was absolutely terrified as Chandler led her over to his bed. She trusted him, and knew he would never do anything to hurt her, but she was worried about doing something stupid in front of him. She watched him lie down and wait for her to follow suit. She wished she had never agreed to this. After she didn't move for a few seconds, she felt Chandler lift his hand up behind her to rub her back, soothingly. Monica took a deep breath and very slowly lay down, her back to him. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her.

Chandler smiled as Monica lay down. He pulled her into his arms and rested his head on the side of her neck for a few seconds. "Is this okay?" He asked.

Monica nodded. "Yeah," she said after taking a deep breath. "I just need to calm down."

Chandler smiled, feeling her heartbeat gradually begin to slow down. He planted a light kiss on her shoulder before resting his head on the pillow behind her head. He stayed awake until he was sure she had fallen asleep. He then promptly followed suit.


	8. New Jobs and Little Green Frogs

_**Chapter 8: New Jobs and Little Green Frogs **_

Monica awoke to the feeling of warmth on her face. She opened her eyes to see a stream on sunlight making it's way from the window across the room into her eyes. She closed her eyes and turned over. It was then that she realized that light never came in her window at home as the building beside hers blocked it. She also realized that the bed she was in was far too comfortable to be her own. She quickly sat up, and peered around the room. The previous nights events came rushing back to her and she remembered she was in Chandler's room. One question: _Where was Chandler?_

Monica thoughts immediately turned dark. _He must of left. He realized who she was and didn't want to be there anymore. He didn't love her. _Monica shook her head, trying to clear it of all the bad thoughts. He had told her he loved her. He had told her to trust him. But she couldn't. She knew she loved him, there was no other way to describe the feeling in her heart, but she couldn't make herself believe that someone actually loved her. No had ever loved her before, and she didn't believe anyone ever would. It was just asking too much. She didn't deserve love.

Monica sighed and got up, smiling to herself as she realized she wearing his clothes. They smelled like him. She walked towards the door and cautiously swung it open, not sure if she expected to see Chandler or not. She half-expected to find a note telling her to leave. She was surprised to find Chandler at the stove, dancing to the music on the radio. He was wearing a yellow apron with little green frogs on it and holding a spatula. He didn't hear her enter the room.

Monica smiled and walked forward. She came right up behind him, and reached out a hand to get his attention. Chandler screeched a not-so-masculine-scream and spun around, holding the spatula out in front of him, as if to defend himself. When he noticed Monica standing in front of him, he blushed all shades of red and tried to cover for himself.

"I was…I was just...you know…I…well…you see…" He trailed off, not able to think of anything.

"You think that's gonna protect you?" Monica asked through her laughter, motioning towards the spatula. "I've seen a lot of people use a lot of things to defend themselves, but I've never seen anyone use a spatula before."

"Do you have a point?" Chandler asked, trying not to smile.

Monica raised an eyebrow, and motioned to Chandler's position.

Chandler immediately placed the spatula onto the table beside him and tried to undo the tie at the back of the apron, only in his hast, ended up getting it in a knot. He struggled for a few seconds before giving up. "Yeah, there's no way I can even start to make an excuse for this, so I'm not even going to try."

"I really like the apron," Monica said sarcastically.

Chandler looked down. "It's the only one I have," he told her, "it was Joey's idea of a birthday present. He a good guy, but he's not so smart."

Monica laughed. "I'm gonna tell him you said that."

"Don't you dare," Chandler threatened.

"Maybe I'll let you off the hook this time," Monica told him.

"Thank-you," Chandler said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "So," he began. "How did you sleep?"

Monica felt herself immediately draw back, she could get so out going with him without even realizing it. "Okay," she said looking down.

Chandler noticed her reaction, and stepped forward, pulling her into a hug. "I hope you slept well," he said. "You looked so peaceful when I woke up that I had to let you sleep."

"You could've woken me up," Monica told him. "I would have helped with breakfast."

"Nah," Chandler said. "It's no problem. Breakfast is my treat this morning."

"Well, thanks," Monica told him.

"Not a problem."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, actually, I just finished. You hungry?"

"A little," Monica admitted.

"Good, I'll just serve up a couple plates." Chandler smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. He cleared his throat. "Uh, could you do me a favor?"

"Of course," Monica replied, with no hesitation.

Chandler looked down, somewhat embarrassed. "Could you, uh, untie the apron? I can't untie the knot."

Monica laughed at his embarrassment. She rolled her eyes. "Turn around," she said.

Monica stayed at Chandler's for the next couple days, until Phoebe got home. And she continued to stay with him almost every night that she and Phoebe weren't working. Very slowly Monica felt her self-confidence rising. She still reacted negatively to most situations at first, but was recovering faster. She was beginning to believe that this amazing man may actually love her, and may actually be there for her no matter what.

A month later Monica was sitting at one of the miss-matched chairs in her apartment, the only one that didn't wobble. She was surprised when Phoebe jumped excitedly in the door.

"Guess what?" Phoebe asked, very excited.

"What?" Monica asked, smiling.

"I said guess," Phoebe said.

Monica rolled her eyes. She knew from experience that guessing games with Phoebe could last quite some time. "Uh…"

"Oh, who are we kidding?" Phoebe said. "We both know you suck at this game. Anyway, I got a job!"

"A job?" Monica exclaimed. "You have a job."

"Yeah, but this is a better job."

"We have a great job at the restaurant," Monica said, somewhat hurt.

"No, that's not what I meant," Phoebe said. "The restaurant is a good job, for you, but it's not what I want, you know? You're gonna be a chef some day, I know it, but I want something different."

"Like what?"

"Well, I got offered a job at a massage therapist office."

Monica smiled. "Oh, Pheebs, that's so great. I know that's what you wanted to do. Congratulations!"

"Thanks, I'm so excited!" Phoebe said. "They said the first couple of weeks are more about learning, and I start at minimum wage, but after that the pay will go up, and I'll get my own room and everything."

"I'm so happy for you, Pheebs," Monica said, stepping forward. The two hugged tightly.

Another month went by and Monica was now working only during the day at the restaurant. She was a full-time waitress and would fill in as assistant chef when needed. She loved her job. One day she got a surprise.

Monica made her way up the stairs of Chandler's building, taking the steps two and three at a time. She had great news that she had to tell Chandler. She reached the right floor and ran over to his door. She stopped and knocked. Joey answered.

"Hi, Mon," he said, motioning for her to enter.

"Hey, Joe, what's up?"

"Not much, you?"

"Well, actually…" She was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. Joey motioned for her to hold on for a moment and went to answer the phone.

Chandler entered from his bedroom at the sound of the phone and was surprised to see Monica standing in the middle of the living room.

"Hi, sweetie," he said, "it's you."

Monica rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "And it's you," she said.

Chandler smiled and approached her. He pulled her into a hug.

"You two are so weird," Joey said as he hung up the phone. "Always oh, it's you, blah, blah, blah…"

Both Monica and Chandler laughed. "It's kind of an inside Joke, Joe," Chandler told him, his arm still resting on Monica shoulder.

Joey rolled his eyes. He didn't get a lot of things his roommate/best friend did. "So, Monica, you had news."

"You have news?" Chandler asked.

"I do…" Monica said.

"Well, what is it?"

"She was about to say what it was when you cut her off," Joey put in.

Chandler turned to face Joey. "Did I ask you?" He said jokingly.

"No, I was just saying."

"Whatever, anyway, Mon, what's the news?"

"If you hadn't cut her off you would know by now," Joey mumbled.

Chandler was about to retort something when Monica put her hand up, silencing both of them. "Boys!" She said. "My God you two act like brothers."

"Sorry," both Chandler and Joey said quickly.

"Anyway, I was at work today and Tom, that's my boss, called me in to his office and told me that Marlene, that's our head chef is moving, and offered me the job of head chef!"

"Oh, sweetie, that's so great for you." Chandler told her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"Congrats, Mon," Joey said. He stepped forward and gave Monica a quick hug.

"I think this is cause for celebration," Chandler said. "Let's go out for dinner tonight, my treat."

"Sounds good," Joey immediately said. Then to their looks, "what? I'm not invited."

Chandler rolled his eyes at his friend's naivety. "Of course you can come, Joe. Oh, and Mon, you can invite Phoebe. I don't think she and Joey have met yet."

Monica nodded. "Sounds good," she said. Chandler smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Later that night, Monica lay awake, stretched out beside Chandler in his bed. He had his arms around her and she was on her side, her head resting on his shoulder, and her arm draped over his chest. It had become their nightly ritual, when she stayed over, to lie like this and talk before falling asleep. Monica enjoyed this time, as she was finally able to be comfortable with him like this.

"So," Chandler was saying. "Phoebe and Joey really seemed to hit it off."

Monica laughed. "I know. Did you see them both trying to flirt with each other, thinking we couldn't tell what was going on?"

Chandler laughed as well. "I know. You now, they would be a good couple. They both have that ditzy, obvious quality to them."

Monica began laughing harder at Chandler's attempt to describe the 'uniqueness' that was their friends.

It wasn't long before Chandler noticed Monica had fallen asleep. He smiled down at her, and reached his hand down to brush some stray hairs away from her face. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you so much." He then pulled her a little closer and fell asleep himself. What he didn't know was that Monica had been awoken by the action of moving her hair. She heard what he said.

Monica was surprised to hear Chandler say those words to her when he thought she was asleep. It meant something that he would do that, thinking she couldn't hear him. Monica sighed happily. She was finally starting to allow herself to believe that he really did love her, that he wasn't going anywhere. Monica was smiling as she fell back to sleep that night. Her life was starting to look up; she had a good job, good friends, and a guy who loved her. In the first time in twenty years, she allowed herself to feel truly happy.

**_AN: Well, how was it? Is the story any good? I hope so. I have another chapter or two to get through until it really gets interesting, so please be patient. All of your questions about Monica's family will be answered; it's all planned out. And ROSS and RACHEL fans don't worry, they're coming, I promise. _**


	9. Big Steps

_**Chapter 9: Big Steps**_

_**AN: I'm glad I managed to get this chapter up now, just to let everyone know to expect a slight delay for the next chapter. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow morning and I don't know how long I will be out for. Oh, and also did you like my chapter title for the last chapter? I thought of it out of nowhere and for some reason thought it was hilarious, especially because it rhymes. Did anyone else find it funny? Anyway, doesn't really matter- ON WITH THE STORY!**_

During the next few months, Monica felt her self-esteem rising every day. She had finally allowed herself to believe that someone-Chandler- could love her. She finally let him in. They were growing closer and she was beginning to think of her future with him. It was an amazing thought, thinking of the future. She hadn't thought of herself having a future for quite some time, and now, she couldn't picture it without him.

Chandler walked out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair with a towel, just as Monica walked in the front door. After months of telling her to simply let herself in, Chandler was glad she was finally doing so. It didn't however; prevent him from jumping when he saw her.

"Bah!" Chandler exclaimed, dropping the towel. "God, Mon, you scared me."

Monica raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Chandler, you're really brave," she told him sarcastically.

"Ha ha," he said. He then smiled. "Happy Anniversary."

"Happy Anniversary," Monica replied, a little nervous. They had gone on their first date exactly one year ago.

Chandler approached her, holding out his arms. "I love you," he whispered as he enveloped her in a tight hug.

"I love you, too," he heard her mumble into his chest.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he told her. "Just give me a minute to get changed, kay?"

"Okay," Monica said before leaning towards him and planting a kiss on his lips. Chandler returned the kiss and planted a kiss on her forehead before walking into his room to change. Just as his door shut, Joey's opened and both Joey and Phoebe walked out.

"There you are, Pheebs," Monica said. "I was wondering where you were." Monica was happy for her friend. She and Joey had been dating for four months now, and were going strong. Monica did, however, envy Phoebe's ability to become 'physical' so easily. She was comfortable around Joey all the time and had no problem spending the night with him. It had taken Monica six months to be comfortable sleeping with Chandler, and that was actually sleeping. She and him had yet to go any further.

"Hey, Mon," both Phoebe and Joey said.

"So, it's the big anniversary night, right?" Phoebe asked.

Monica nodded.

"I'm so happy for you, Mon," Phoebe said, coming forward to hug her best friend. "I remember after your first date and you were so shocked that you has agreed to another. This is such a huge step. "

Monica groaned. "Don't remind me. I'm nervous already."

Phoebe laughed. "Don't be nervous, Mon, what's there to be nervous of?"

"I don't know," Monica said honestly. "I just am."

Phoebe gave her another hug. "Well, don't be nervous. Just have a good time."

"Thanks," Monica said. She smiled at Chandler as he walked out of his room.

Chandler approached them. "You ready?" He asked Monica.

Monica nodded. She turned to leave.

"Wait, don't I get a hug?" Joey asked. "I mean Phoebe got two hugs. I should get at least one."

Monica laughed and gave him a hug. "Bye Joe."

A few hours later Monica and Chandler walked back through the door, both laughing. The waiter at the restaurant had tripped and landed right on top of a table, the tray they had been carrying landing on them. The waiter had been embarrassed, but had started laughing as soon as he realized everyone was okay. In the end, the entire restaurant had been laughing.

"Did you see the look on his face when the glob of ice-cream dripped down the side of his face?" Chandler said through his laughter.

Monica nodded, laughing too hard to answer.

The two went over and collapsed in the chair together.

"Oh that was so funny," Monica said as she regained control of her breathing.

Chandler nodded and wrapped his arms around her. They were silent for a few minutes before he spoke up. "So, have you and Phoebe had any luck finding an apartment?"

Monica shook her head. "No, we haven't found anything we like yet that's, you know, close by." Monica and Phoebe had finally decided they were bringing in enough to get a bigger, better apartment. They were both working steady jobs and together could easily afford what they were looking for.

"That's too bad," Chandler said. "I know how much you guys are looking forward to a new place. But don't worry, it will happen soon."

Monica nodded. "I know, it's just so frustrating. I so want a new place." She trailed off for a moment. "I guess it's more the meaning of the new apartment than the actual apartment. I mean, it represents all we've been through and all we've done. We went from sleeping in a box on the streets to having a big apartment. I just can't wait."

Chandler pulled her in closer and kissed the back of her head. "I want you to know how proud I am of you, well both you and Phoebe. What you guys managed to do is amazing. I don't think I could have done it. It's taken a lot of hard work and dedication, but here you are. You're self-reliant and you guys can take care of yourselves. You're an amazing women, Mon, you really are."

At Chandler's words, Monica turned around to face him. "Do you really think that?" She asked, tears in her eyes.

Chandler's expression softened at her reaction. "Of course I do, Sweetie. You really are amazing," he said as he reached forward and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "You're amazing and beautiful and…I am so in love with you Monica, so in love."

Monica felt her eyes well up and flow over the barrier of her lower eyelid. She tried to say something, but couldn't get any words out.

"Oh, Mon, no, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry."

Monica almost laughed at the sincerity of his words. "No, Chandler, don't be sorry. These aren't sad tears. I just…I still find it hard to believe that you love me, that you think of my that way."

"Well, get used to it," Chandler told her. "Because I won't be changing my mind anytime soon, okay?"

Monica nodded, not looking away from his eyes. "I will and thank-you."

Chandler smiled. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

"I love you, too," Monica said. She allowed herself to completely give in to him, give in to the feeling of loving and being loved. And it was an amazing feeling. After so long she finally allowed herself to believe that she was lovable, that she meant something to someone. Without thinking, Monica leaned in and kissed him.

Chandler felt Monica kiss him and he immediately returned the kiss. He had no complaints as he felt her deepen the kiss. It wasn't long before he felt her hands reach out to tentatively towards the hem of his shirt. It brought Chandler back down to reality and he reached out to gently stop her hands. He saw Monica looking up at him, startled.

Chandler offered her a small smile. "A-are you sure?" He asked her gently, squeezing her hands.

Monica looked up at Chandler and nodded. She could see nothing but love in his eyes and she had total trust in him. She knew in her heart that he would never hurt her.

Chandler looked down at Monica lovingly. He could tell she was nervous. "Really?" He asked, giving her every opportunity to say no. "I need you to be sure."

"I'm sure," she said. She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm a little scared, but I'm sure."

Chandler smiled. "You have nothing to be worried about," he told her gently. "I'll be gentle," he whispered.

"I know you will," she told him. "I trust you."

Chandler smiled and promptly picked her up, carrying her into his bedroom and closing the door.

Early the next morning Monica lay awake in Chandler's arms. She couldn't remember a time in her life when she had been happier. The last night had been everything she had ever hoped or dreamed for. She knew Chandler had made it as easy for her as possible. She loved him for that, he was always thinking about her. Monica sighed happily, feeling sleep creeping up on her again. She snuggled closer to Chandler and felt him tighten his grip around her. It was an amazing feeling, being in love. She couldn't describe it, and she couldn't remember a time when she had managed to live without it, without him.


	10. Moving Plans and Birthdays, an More Movi...

**_Chapter 10_: Moving Plans and Birthdays, and More Moving Plans**

**AN: Well, I got my teeth out yesterday and I'm in less pain than I expected, so I decided to get some writing done. If this chapter doesn't make sense it's because of the Tylenol 3's. Anyway…**

Monica unlocked the door to her and Phoebe's apartment and pushed it open. She spotted Phoebe sitting on the couch, watching the small TV they had bought at a used electronics store the previous month. Even though they were both making a fair amount of money now, they were still very conservative. When Phoebe spotted Monica walk in the door she jumped up and ran over to her.

"How was the anniversary?" Phoebe asked, excitedly.

Monica smiled and blushed slightly. "It was…amazing."

Phoebe gave her a questioning look. "You two didn't…you know?"

Monica blushed even harder. "Well…we…yeah, we did."

"Oh my God!" Phoebe exclaimed. "That's so great for you. How was it?"

Monica sighed, wishing for the millionth time that she could be as outgoing as her best friend. Any topic involving intimacy was difficult for her to take part in. "It was perfect," she finally replied.

Phoebe smiled at her. "Was he good about it? Did it hurt?"

"It hurt a little at first, but he was really sweet about it. He went really slow and was so…concerned. He kept telling me he loved me, and kept kissing me. It was amazing."

Phoebe smiled even harder and threw her arms around her best friend. "See, I told you it was. You shouldn't have waited this long."

"I know, but I don't think I could have coped if he had gotten sex and took off. I know a lot of guys do that."

Phoebe nodded. "It's true, many do, but you know Chandler would never do anything like that. He loves you far too much."

Monica was silent.

"You do know he loves you, right?" Phoebe asked. "I mean it's so obvious. You can see it in his eyes. He loves you so much."

Monica nodded. "Just recently I actually allowed myself to believe him when he tells me."

Phoebe smiled again and jumped up and down a few times, clapping her hands. "I'm just so happy for you!"

Monica hesitated for a minute before jumping up and down with Phoebe. "I'm so happy for me too!"

A few days later Monica, Joey and Phoebe were sitting in the coffee house, Central Perk, which was just down the street from Joey and Chandler's building. Joey was sitting in between the girls and had an arm around both of them. His right arm was wrapped tightly around Phoebe's waist and his left, resting lightly on Monica's shoulders. Joey could seem like a bad guy from the outside at times, but he was very loyal and protective to those he was friends with. When he found out that Phoebe and Monica had lived on the streets and why, he had immediately vowed to find Monica's parents and Phoebe's step dad and 'give them a piece of his mind.' It had taken them three days to talk him out of that one.

Monica heard the door open and looked behind her to see Chandler walk in. He had a huge grin on his face, like he knew something they did not. He approached the couch they were seated on, and they all moved down, allowing him room to sit beside Monica, but he didn't sit there. Instead he sat across from them, perched on the table in front of them. Monica gave him a questioning look.

"I have good news," he said.

"What is it?" Monica asked.

Chandler smiled, and then looked at both Monica and Phoebe. "I think I found you an apartment."

"What? Where?" Both Monica and Phoebe exclaimed at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Well, I was leaving the apartment this morning when the couple from across the hall came out. They asked me if I knew anyone looking for an apartment because they were expecting their second child and had just bought a house. So, I told them I did know two people looking for an apartment."

"Oh, wow," Monica said. "It would be so perfect to live across from you guys. Can we see it?"

"Yup," Chandler said.

"When?" Phoebe asked.

"Right now, if you want."

He didn't have to tell them twice as both Monica and Phoebe jumped up, ready to go, leaving Joey with his arms stretched out both ways beside him. Joey shrugged and got up as well.

The gang crowded into the apartment across from Joey and Chandler's. The walls were a light yellow color, with whit trim. It had a good-sized bathroom, two large bedrooms, a big kitchen, and a very large living room, as well as a small balcony. It was perfect. They met with the owner's later that day and found that it was quite affordable for them with their incomes. They gave their one-month notice at their old apartment the next morning.

The couple moved into their new house two weeks later, leaving Monica and Phoebe two weeks to move their stuff. They decided they would paint it first, as neither were fans of the yellow, except in the bathroom, where it looked quite nice. They decoded on purple for the living room, blue for the kitchen and Monica's room and pink for Phoebe's room. With s small amount of begging, they managed to get the guys to help them paint.

Monica glanced at her watch and sighed. They had been painting for hours and were just finishing up the living room. She glanced over at Chandler, who looked so cute in his old sweats and miss-matching t-shirt. She couldn't help but reach over and jab him on the cheek with her paintbrush. Chandler spun around, a look of shock on his face. Monica tried not to smile, but couldn't help it. "What?" She asked him, feigning innocent. "It wasn't me."

"Oh, whatever," Chandler told her. "You so asked for it." He took a step towards her.

Monica screamed and tried to turn and run, but it was too late. He grabbed her around the waist with one arm and used the other to smear purple paint all over her face and arms. "Okay, okay," she said, through her laughter. "You've made your point."

Chandler stopped and loosened his grip. She turned in his grip to face him and kissed him, hard, on the mouth. Chandler immediately fell into the kiss, dropping his brush. Monica smiled inwardly. That was exactly what she had hoped would happen. A second later she broke the kiss and wiped her paintbrush across his head, turning his hair purple.

"Oh, you little…" Chandler said. "I am so gonna get you now." He wasted no time in picking her up, and carrying her over to the kitchen. He then proceeded to pick up a brush out of the can of blue paint and smeared it across her head. She screamed again, this time louder, causing Phoebe and Joey to come out of Phoebe's room, that they were just finishing. They laughed at the sight and Joey made a dash for his camera. He got a good couple pictures of Monica and Chandler in an all-out paint fight before they realized what was going on. They stopped and made eye contact, silently working out a plan. They each picked up a brush and made their way over to Joey and Phoebe. It wasn't long before the four of them were lying, exhausted, on the floor. They took a few minutes to gain energy back and got back to work they quickly finished the rest of the painting and Joey suggested a group picture. He set up his camera to go off and left it lined up with them, on the table. They got into position, all smiling, their arms around each other looking happy, but nothing happened. It was Monica who started laughing first.

"Are you sure it's going to go off, Joe?" She asked, through clenched teeth, as she didn't want to stop smiling if it went off.

"It should," Joey replied, also through clenched teeth. He too, began laughing. They were joined by Chandler and Phoebe. Soon they were all laughing hysterically, all thoughts of the picture gone. They were bent over laughing, with tears in their eyes, when Joey heard a click.

"Look up!" He shouted. "It's gonna take it."

The gang quickly looked up, trying to get back into position, but it went off too soon, getting a shot of them all laughing, tears streaming down their cheeks. In the end it turned out to be a perfect picture of the four of them. They were all leaning on each other, three colors of paint all over them, looking young and free and happy.

On the day Monica and Phoebe moved into their new apartment, Joey and Chandler presented them with the picture, blown up and framed. Monica and Phoebe had cried at the act. It didn't take them much time to get unpacked, as they didn't have much stuff. Chandler and Joey had helped them carry their stuff over from their old apartment. It was the first time they had ever been to their old apartment. Again, Monica and Phoebe left all the furniture, as their new apartment came with two double beds, a couch, fridge, oven, microwave and even a dishwasher.

Chandler was lying, on his stomach, on Monica's bed, watching her unpack her clothes and hang them in her closet. He smiled to himself; he could watch her any day. She soon finished and collapsed on the bed beside him. Chandler rolled over and pulled Monica half on top of him, so her head was resting on his chest and her arm draped across his body. She smiled at him and closed her eyes for a few minutes.

"You tired?" Chandler whispered.

Monica nodded against his chest. "It's been a long day," she told him.

"But a good day, right?" Chandler asked.

Monica opened her eyes, looking into his. "A very good day," she said. "I mean, I never thought this would happen. I still remember when Phoebe and I were living on the streets, not being able to count on a next meal and stressing over the inability to get a job. I mean look how far we came in just two years."

"You two never cease to amaze me," Chandler told her honestly. "I love you."

Monica smiled. "I love you, too." She glanced over at her alarm clock. "How can it only be eight thirty," she wondered aloud. "I'm so tired."

Chandler shrugged. "It was an emotional day. You have every right to be tired. You should go to bed early and get a good night sleep. You deserve it."

"Sounds perfect," Monica said.

"Okay, all you need to do is put sheets on your bed, and you're all set. If you show me where they are, I'll make the bed for you while you do your teeth."

Monica smiled and reached forward, resting her hand on the side of his face. "You are so good to me," she told him. "How did I get so lucky?"

Chandler smiled back at her and blushed slightly. "I'm the lucky one," he told her. "Now, where are the sheets?"

Monica rolled her self off the bed and riffled through a box before pulling out a folded sheet and a thin blanket. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked him.

Chandler rolled his eyes. "Geez, Mon, it's not like I'm going bungee jumping or something," he told her sarcastically.

Monica rolled her eyes as well. "I'll take that as a yes," she said, throwing her pillow at him. She then left the room to go to the bathroom to do her teeth. When she retuned Chandler was still lying on her bed.

She gave his a quizzical look. "Was making the bed too hard for you, sweetie?" She asked him jokingly.

"Ha ha," he said. "It was a little difficult seeing as this is a double bed and the sheets you gave me are for a single bed.

Monica froze and started laughing. "I'm such an idiot. It didn't even occur to me that hey weren't gonna fit. Oh well, I can buy sheets tomorrow."

"What are you gonna do tonight?"

Monica shrugged. "I don't need sheets. I have my blanket and pillow. I'll be fine."

"Is that the only blanket you have?" Chandler asked.

Monica nodded. "Yeah, it's warmer than it looks," she told him. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Chandler smiled at her, and gave her a look. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let my girlfriend sleep on a mattress with one blanket and a pillow and no sheets?"

Monica rolled her eyes. "Chandler, it's not even cold out, it's August for crying out loud."

"That's not the point," he told her.

Monica sighed. "What do you want me to do, then?"

"Come sleep at my place tonight?" He asked her. "I mean I would lend you a set of sheets but my extra set aren't clean. They've been in my hamper for two weeks."

Monica smiled at him. "I don't want to get in the way," she told her.

Chandler tilted his head slightly and wrapped his arms around her. "Monica, I like you being in my way, okay?"

"Okay," Monica relented. She wasn't sure what was going to happen with her living across the hall from Chandler. Before she had slept over a lot to spend time with him, but now she wondered if they would only sleep in the same bed for the sake of sex. She hoped not, as she loved that they could fall asleep together, without having sex or anything. It told her that they were close, mentally. Monica smiled as he took her hand, leading her across the hall. There, Chandler stripped down to his boxers, and climbed in beside Monica, who was already in her pajamas. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and it wasn't long before they were both fast asleep.

Chandler awoke early the next morning, with a plan. He very carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake up Monica. She stirred slightly.

"Chandler?" He heard her mumbled, still half asleep. He brushed his hand down her hair a couple times.

"Shh, sweetie. It's okay, go back to sleep."

Monica mumbled something incoherent and promptly did as Chandler told her. Chandler waited until her breathing was deep and even before quickly getting dressed and exiting the room. He grabbed his wallet off the table in the living room and hurried out of the apartment. He made his way down the street to the bedding store, smiling to himself. _This was going to be perfect, _he thought. He entered the store and began sifting through the different designs on the sheets, before finally choosing one. It was blue and was covered in tiny hearts and smiley faces. She would love them. He bought the sheets, a comforter, four pillowcases and new pillows. On his way to the cashier, he spotted a basket of decorative pillows. He picked a happy face pillow and one in the shape of a heart. He hurried home, and entered her and Phoebe's apartment, which thank-god, they hadn't locked. He quickly made her bed with the new sheets, and comforter. He then put the pillowcases on the new pillows and set them on the bed, with the smiley face pillow and heart pillow resting against them. He set her old stuff in the closet and headed back to his apartment.

Chandler entered his apartment, and saw that it had taken him just less then an hour. He prayed Monica was still asleep. He cautiously slipped back into his room, to find her still fast asleep. She looked so peaceful when she slept, he could watch her for hours, but he forced himself not to. He couldn't risk having her wake up and notice him dressed. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed back in beside her.

Again, Monica stirred. "Where'd you go?" She mumbled.

"Nowhere," Chandler said smiling. "Just the bathroom."

"Kay," she said, before falling back to sleep.

Two hours later Monica awoke to find it was almost eleven o'clock. She sighed and snuggled closer to Chandler, who was still asleep. Instinctively, he tightened his grip around her. Monica smiled and rolled over, planting a kiss on his cheek. She watched him slowly open one eye and then the other. He saw her and smiled.

"Hey," he said. "It's you."

Monica laughed. "It's you."

Chandler yawned. "What time is it?" He asked, straining to look over her to see the alarm clock.

"It's eleven," Monica told him.

"Eleven! Wow, we slept for a long time," Chandler said.

"I know, but it was a good sleep."

Chandler laughed slightly. "You know, it's funny. You got a new apartment yesterday and yet you slept over here."

"Hey, that's because you made me," Monica retorted. "Anyway, I gotta go get sheets today, don't I?"

Chandler nodded. "If that's what you want to do."

Monica looked up at him. "Do you wanna come with me?" She asked. "I have some other stuff to pick up as well."

Chandler smiled. "Sure."

Monica leaned in to give him a kiss. "Well, we might as well get going."

Chandler nodded and jumped up. He quickly pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt before following Monica to her apartment. He had to do his absolute best not to show his smile. He couldn't wait to see her reaction.

They entered her apartment to find Joey and Phoebe hard at work trying to set up the TV and VCR that Monica and Phoebe had bought.

"How's it going?" Monica asked.

Joey looked up at her. "Good, we're almost done."

"Yeah," Phoebe added. "It wasn't as hard as I thought. All we had to do was follow the instructions. Who knew?"

Monica gave her a weird look before turning back to Chandler. "Let me just go get changed and grab my wallet and I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay," Chandler said, almost dying as he worked so hard not to smile.

"Are you guys going out?" Phoebe asked.

Monica nodded. "Yeah, I have to pick up some sheets. I didn't realize that my old ones wouldn't fit the bigger bed."

Phoebe laughed at her. "I thought of that a week ago," she said. "It never occurred to me that you wouldn't. Well, I guess we know who the smarter one is now, don't we?"

Monica laughed as she walked away from them, towards her door. Chandler held his breath she pushed the door open and entered. It only took her a second or two to return to the living room. She looked at Chandler. "Did you do this?" She asked.

"Do what?" Chandler said, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about. After a second, he couldn't hold in the smile anymore and she immediately hurried over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Thank-you," she whispered, through tears.

"Your welcome," Chandler told her, hugging her back.

"What did he do?" Phoebe asked. Both she and Joey looked at Monica expectantly for an answer. Monica smiled and motioned for them to follow her to her room. They both gasped when they entered.

"Oh, Chandler!" Phoebe exclaimed. "This is so sweet. When did you do this?"

"This morning," Chandler replied. "I woke up early and got the idea."

"That is so sweet," Phoebe repeated. She turned towards Joey. "Why don't you ever do anything like this for me?" She asked.

Joey opened and closed his mouth a few times, not sure of what to say. He gave up and turned towards Chandler. "Way to get me in trouble, man."

Everyone laughed and Phoebe and Joey went back to the task of setting up the TV and VCR.

Chandler noticed that Monica had not moved since they had entered her room, nor had she said anything. He tentatively stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle. "Penny for you thoughts."

Monica tuned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you so much," she whispered. "So much. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Never."

"Well, you deserve it," Chandler told her.

"It must of cost you a fortune," Monica whispered.

Chandler shook his head. "It wasn't that much. Don't worry about it. Just think of it as a moving in present, okay?"

Monica nodded, then stopped. "I though the picture was the moving in present?"

Chandler froze for a minute. "It was," he began, not sure of what to say, then got an idea. "But, it was for you _and_ Phoebe, plus, Joey and I got one for us as well.

"You did?" Monica asked.

Chandler nodded. "Yeah, we did. It was such a great shot."

"It really was."

They stood there in silence for a few moments, before Chandler finally spoke up. "So, we still going out?"

Monica nodded. "Sure, just let me get changed."

Chandler nodded, kissed her on the forehead and went to go help Joey and Phoebe. It wasn't long before Monica entered the living room, dressed and ready to go. She and Chandler made their way down the stairs to the sidewalk.

"So, what are we looking for?" Chandler asked.

"I'm not sure," Monica told him. "I have some money saved up to decorate. I didn't want to decorate my old apartment as I knew we would be moving eventually."

Chandler nodded. "Sounds good. So, where to?"

Hours later Monica and Chandler retuned to her apartment, each carrying many bags. Monica had found quite a few things she liked, as well as some clothes. She had even managed to find some curtains that matched hr new sheets. It had been a long day, and they were both tired.

They entered the apartment to find Phoebe and Joey sitting on the couch, eating pizza.

"How was shopping?" Phoebe asked.

Chandler dropped the bags he was carrying and collapsed on the couch beside her. "Exhausting," he said. "I think Monica bought out every store in the area."

"That's so not true," Monica said laughing.

Over the next few months Monica and Phoebe got settled into their apartment. They ended up buying a chair to go with their couch and a coffee table. They also got a new kitchen table and four, matching chairs.

Monica walked in one day after work and sighed happily. She loved her life so much. She had a great apartment, two wonderful friends, and an absolutely amazing boyfriend. She smiled at the thought of Chandler. He stayed at her apartment almost every night, often just to sleep. She loved falling asleep in his arms almost every night.

Monica sighed again and shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the present. She walked over and hit the button on the answering machine.

_You have one new message…_

"Hi, sweetie," Chandler's voice filtered through the machine. "I'm just calling to wish you a happy birthday." Monica smiled. She hadn't told Chandler when her birthday was until after it had already passed the first year they had gone out, so this was the first time she would celebrate her birthday with him, and she was looking forward to it. He had told her that he was planning something secret and wouldn't give her any hints. She loved that he did special little things for her, and rarely normal things, like fancy restaurants. "Anyway, I don't want to give a way what we're doing tonight, but I wanted to tell you that we might go _outside_ so you might want dress _warmly._" Monica giggled at his attempt to emphasize that they were going outside, that it would be cold. She decided that she needed to teach him about subtlety. "Okay, well I'm gonna go now. I love you. I'll see you later. Bye."

Monica shook her head as she put away the bag of groceries she had picked up on the way home. Phoebe entered smiling.

"Hey, Mon," she said. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks Pheebs."

"So, any word on what you and Chandler are doing tonight?"

"Well, he left a message, telling me in a _very non-obvious way_ to dress warmly."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "We need to teach him about subtlety."

Monica nodded. "I was just thinking that," Monica said nodding. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Not much, I just came over to see if you were home yet."

"Didn't you come here after work?"

Phoebe shook her head. "Nah, I haven't been here since yesterday morning. I've just been spending time with Joey."

"You know, it's like you live with him."

"I know!" Phoebe said. "And it's awesome. And you're one to talk. I'm at Joey and Chandler's all the time, but do you know who is never at Joey and Chandler's. Chandler!"

Monica smiled. "I know."

"So, are you excited about tonight?"

Monica nodded.

"Well, I talked to Chandler a couple days ago and he said that the four of us would hang for a bit before you guys go out. That way we can do presents a stuff."

Monica looked inquisitively at her. "Are you allowed to tell me what you just told me?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yup, he said I could, well, actually he told me to tell you. And I was supposed to tell you yesterday, but I forgot. If he asks, tell him I told you yesterday, okay?"

Monica laughed. "Of course."

Phoebe nodded. "Good."

It wasn't long before Joey came in the door, carrying a large parcel.

"Happy birthday, Mon." Joey said, holding out the package, that he had obviously wrapped himself. Monica glanced at it and smiled at Joey. She could swear there was more tape than wrapping paper, but it was the thought that counts.

"Oh, right," Phoebe said. "Let me go get my present." Phoebe left the apartment, heading over to Joey's room, where she kept her gift. She came running back in, with a wide, flat box that was beautifully wrapped. Obviously, she had had it wrapped at the store.

Monica thanked Phoebe and placed the present down beside the one Joey had given her on the coffee table.

"Aren't you gonna open them?" Joey asked.

Monica smiled. "I'll wait for Chandler."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Why, they aren't for Chandler?"

Monica was about to respond when the door opened and Chandler walked in.

"Happy birthday," he said smiling. He walked over to her and pulled her into a long kiss.

After a few seconds, Phoebe had had enough and made a few choking sounds. Chandler and Monica broke the kiss, laughing. Monica buried her face into his chest, still laughing.

"Phoebe," Chandler said. "I have one word for you."

"Yeah, and what word is that?" Phoebe asked.

"Tact."

"Ha ha," Phoebe said.

Monica got control of her laughing and stepped away from Chandler.

"Are we ready to do presents?" Joey asked excitedly. He was like a little kid at Christmas, always excited.

"Let me just grab mine," Chandler said. He made his way into Monica's room and exited with a medium sized gift bag.

"How did you have that in my room without me even knowing?" She asked.

Chandler shrugged. "I don't know."

Monica rolled her eyes. It was like he lived there.

Joey couldn't contain himself anymore. He jumped up and grabbed his present, thrusting it into Monica's hands. "Open mine first."

"What is that?" Chandler asked.

"It's my present," Joey answered.

"O-kay," Chandler replied. "And let me guess; you wrapped it yourself?"

Joey nodded, not grasping the meaning behind Chandler's words.

They sat down in the living room, Phoebe and Joey on the couch, Monica on the chair and Chandler on the floor, leaning against Monica's legs.

Monica carefully began to unwrap Joey's present, which proved to be rather difficult with all the tape. She finally got it open to find a light beige medium length, button up coat. Monica remembered seeing one similar in a magazine the month earlier.

"Oh, Joey, it's so beautiful," Monica told him. "I love it!" Monica got up and gave Joey a big hug. "Thank-you so much."

"Your welcome, Mon. I knew you'd like it. I remembered seeing you looking at it in a magazine."

Monica sat back down.

"Mine next," Phoebe said, tossing hers over to Monica.

It was much easier to open Phoebe's present than Joey's and she found a pair of black pants, and a long sleeved, beautiful baby blue shirt. "Oh, Pheebs," Monica said. "They're so beautiful. I love them. Thank-you."

Monica got up and hugged Phoebe now.

She sat back down and Chandler handed her his gift. The bag had smiley faces on it and she pulled out a stuffed, yellow smiley face, about a foot in diameter, with springy arms and legs.

Monica laughed. "It's so cute, Chandler. I love it." She leaned down to give Chandler a kiss. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome," Chandler said. "So, are you ready to go?"

"Just about," Monica said. "I just have to get changed. Maybe I'll wear my new clothes." She grabbed the shirt and pants and walked quickly into her bedroom, just to emerge a few minutes later. "Well, how do they look?" She asked, walking out and spinning around.

"Great!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Beautiful," Chandler told her.

Joey smiled at her and whistled.

Monica laughed. "I'll take that as a good sign." Monica smiled as she pulled on her new coat. She turned to Chandler. "Do I need to bring anything?"

Chandler shook his head. "Only yourself."

"Okay," Monica replied. She turned to Phoebe and Joey. "Bye guys and thank-you again."

"Your welcome," both Joey and Phoebe replied.

Monica turned and followed Chandler out the door. She walked down the hall, and started down the stairs, when Chandler gently grabbed her hand and pointed her up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Monica asked.

"Up," was all Chandler said as he led her up the stairs and onto the roof.

When they walked out onto the roof, Monica gasped at what she saw. There was a small table and two chairs sitting about ten feet away from her. There was a glass of wine and a box of pizza. She also spotted a small stereo next to the table.

Monica turned to face Chandler.

"Do you like it?" Chandler asked, looking somewhat nervous.

"I love it," Monica replied. "It's perfect."

Chandler smiled and led her over to the table, pulling out the chair for her. She sat down and waited as he served them both a slice of pizza and a glass of wine.

"I was hoping you would like this," Chandler told her. "I thought it was more personal to do something with just us, and I know how much you like pizza. Plus, technically today is the first day you are legally allowed to drink."

"You're right," Monica said. "I didn't even think of that."

Chandler raised his eyebrow at Monica. "Sure you didn't," he said.

Monica playfully swiped her hand at Chandler. He managed to avoid being hit by catching her hand mid-swing and holding on. "He stared into her eyes for a few seconds. "I love you," he whispered.

Monica smiled, feeling her eyes well up slightly. "I love you, too."

"Well, let's get eating before the food gets too cold."

"How long has it been up here?" Monica asked.

"Oh, I dropped it off up here after work."

"Oh, sneaky," Monica told him.

"I know." Chandler said. They stared at each other for a moment before both broke out laughing. They quickly ate the pizza and downed a glass of wine each.

"How was it?" Chandler asked when she finished.

Monica smiled at him. "It was delicious." She told him honestly.

"Good," he said. "Now I can give you your present."

"You already gave me my present," Monica told him.

Chandler smiled. "Do you really think that was all I was going to give you? A stupid little stuffed happy face?"

Monica shrugged. "I didn't think it was stupid," she countered. "I loved it."

"Well, hopefully you will love this even more," Chandler said, sliding a long, thin box across the table.

Monica picked up the box and slid it out of the case. It was a black, velvet material, with a hinge on one side. "She carefully opened it and gasped. Inside she found a beautiful charm bracelet. On the bracelet were six charms; a happy face, a heart, and X, an apple, a coffee mug and a liquor bottle. Monica smiled up at Chandler through her tears. "Thank-you sweetie, I love it." She felt herself begin to cry.

Chandler smiled and moved his chair around the table so he was sitting beside her. He wrapped his arms around her until her tears had slowed. He then pulled the bracelet out of the box and carefully placed it around her wrist. He then proceeded to explain all of the charms. "The heart and happy face are pretty well self-explanatory," he said. "And the heart has a **_C _**on one side and an **_M _**on the other, y'know, representing _us._ The **_X_** is to represent the first time we met, when we bumped into each other. I couldn't find anything that would really represent this, so I chose an X, meaning our paths crossed, you know?" He paused for a moment, as he felt Monica nod against his chest. He smiled. "The mug is to represent our first, unofficial date when we bumped into each other at the coffee place, remember?" Again Monica nodded. "The apple is to represent us meeting at the grocery store and the bottle is to represent today, your twenty-first birthday, cause you can drink. I thought it was cute." Monica was silent. "Did I do okay?" Chandler asked, nervously.

Monica looked up at him, right into his deep, blue eyes. "You did amazing," she answered. "Absolutely amazing. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Ever. I love it. I don't think I'll ever take it off."

Chandler smiled, feeling tears come to his eyes as well. He was still amazed that he could feel something so deep for another person. He had never believed in love when he was growing up. In his mind his parents had done everything in their power to show him the there was no such thing as love and that commitment was useless, you couldn't trust anyone. But, here he was, completely in love with an amazing woman, who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, someone who he knew he could trust. He knew she would never hurt him, and he would never hurt her.

"Dance with me?" He asked quietly as he leaned down to turn on the stereo beside him.

Monica simply nodded and allowed him to pull her away from the table. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head against his chest.

Monica allowed herself to be completely lost in the feeling of being with Chandler, of dancing with him, of being in his arms. It made her feel safe and comfortable. It made her feel protected, like no one could hurt her if she was with him. Monica sighed happily as they swayed back and forth to the soft music pouring out of the stereo.

Chandler closed his eyes as he felt Monica sigh against his chest. It was an amazing feeling, being in love. It really was. He was more than willing to spend the rest of his life with her. He would not settle for one day less than forever with her. He didn't know how long they stayed there, swaying back and forth. Chandler suddenly realized the music was over and Monica was shivering slightly in his arms.

"Let's go inside," Chandler whispered. Monica nodded. Chandler walked over and grabbed the stereo from beside the table. He then returned to her, draped his arms over her shoulder and led her back down to her apartment.

Upon reaching her apartment, they crashed on the couch for a while, watching a movie. It was well after midnight when they finally decided to go to bed. They walked into Monica's room, and she changed while, Chandler pulled out a pair of his sweat pants from the closet to wear. They were both settled into bed before either said anything.

Monica began giggling slightly in her position, her head resting in the middle of Chandler's chest, her arm draped possessively over it.

"What's so funny?" Chandler asked, smiling, as he felt the love of his life shaking gently in her arms.

"N-nothing," Monica said. "It's just something Phoebe and I were talking about earlier."

Chandler propped his head up with his elbow so he could see her better. "What?"

Monica hesitated slightly. "Nothing really, we were just joking about the fact that she spends all of her time at your and Joey's apartment and you spend all of your time here. It's like you live here and she lives there, you know?"

Chandler laughed and nodded. "Well," he said. "I would go home more often, but I just can't seem to get away," he ended; only half-joking. He paused for a moment. "Do you like me being here so often?"

Monica smiled at him. "I love you being here all the time. I miss you when you aren't here. And I know that's stupid, you know, to miss you when you're only across the hall, but I can't help it…" She was about to go on, when Chandler cut her off by gently placing his finger against her lips.

He smiled sweetly at her. "I know exactly what you are talking about."

"Really?"

Chandler nodded. "Really," he said. "I mean, I love spending time with you, and simply being near you. Like days like tonight, I just love falling asleep beside you, whether we had sex first or not."

Monica smiled to herself as she snuggled a little closer to Chandler. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Good," Chandler said. He seemed to get an idea. "Hey Mon?"

Monica looked up, propping her chin on her elbows. She was practically lying completely on top of Chandler. "What?" She asked.

"Well, I was thinking."

"Thinking is good," Monica said, cutting him off.

Chandler rolled his eyes at her before continuing. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he began again, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "I was thinking…I…uh…" He trailed off, not seeming to know what to say.

Monica reached a hand forward, and gently stroked his cheek. "What were you thinking?" She asked.

He took a deep breath. "Do you want to live together?" He asked, quickly.

Monica was taken aback for a moment, not saying anything. But, after a moment she looked up again, into his eyes, a huge smile on his face. "Yes!" She exclaimed. "I would love to live with you!"

"Really?" Chandler asked, excitedly.

"Really," Monica replied, pushing herself up his body to throw her arms around his neck.

AN: Wow, this story is getting really long! Anyway, please keep reading. I only have one chapter left to set up to second half of the story, and then hopefully it will get better. ROSS AND RACHEL are coming very soon. They may even show up in the next chapter. So, did everything in this chapter make sense? I hope so. Oh, and another thing I wanted to ask you. Does the story line make sense, like is Monica's self-confidence increasing realistically? Please let me know what you think, as if I'm moving her too fast, I'll need to put another chapter in between this one and the next one. Thanks.


	11. A New Kind of Christmas

_**Chapter 11: A New Kind of Christmas**_

_**AN: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but I haven't been able to get onto the site for, like, a week. Anyway, it took me a while to get this chapter written. The next chapter will be up faster.**_

It didn't take long for the moving arrangements to take place. Joey and Phoebe were very happy for Monica and Chandler and decided that they, too, would move in together. So, Chandler moved into Monica's apartment and Phoebe moved into Joey's apartment.

Monica was ecstatic; she was in love, living with her boyfriend, and she had two amazing friends. But, as she had learned in life, if things were going well, they almost always went bad.

Monica was sitting in the dark, nervously. She was perched on the edge of the couch, playing with her hands. She jumped when she heard the door open.

"Hi sweetie," Chandler's familiar voice filtered through the room. He spotted her on the couch. "Is everything okay?"

Monica jumped up. "Yup! It's fine. Everything is f-fine. Nothing's wrong."

Chandler gave her an amused look. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Monica was about to assure him for the second time that she was, in fact, okay, when she saw the look on his face. She knew she couldn't fake being okay with him. He could always see through her.

"Okay," she relented. "I'm not okay. I'm a little nervous about tonight."

Chandler laughed. "Mon, you don't have to be nervous. It's just my mom."

"Exactly," Monica said, jumping up. "She's your mom. What if she doesn't like me? What if she hates me and tells you never to see me again. What if…"

"Monica, calm down," Chandler said, wrapping his arms around her small, shaking frame. He kissed her on the temple. "Everything is going to be fine, okay? She's just my mom. I know she will love you. And if not, who cares? She doesn't control who I am, or what I do, or who I love."

Monica looked up at him, an apprehensive look on her face. "Are you sure?"

Chandler nodded. "I'm sure I'm sure."

Monica nodded again and thanked him. She was still very nervous, but felt a little better that Chandler wasn't worried. He had been trying to convince her all week that meeting his mother wasn't that big a deal, but she still didn't believe him. Monica wasn't very good at interacting with people she didn't know, and she had heard horror stories about people screwing up when they met their boyfriend/girlfriend's parents. She could only image how badly this could turn out. _What would his mom think when she finds out Monica had lived on the streets? _She would probably convince her son that Monica was not nearly good enough for him that he should ditch her and find someone better.

Monica was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Chandler repeating her name over and over.

"Monica…Monica," Chandler repeated.

Monica snapped out of it and looked up at him. "What?" She asked.

Chandler laughed. "Are you in there today?" He asked sweetly, holding his hand against the side of her head, rubbing his thumb up and down the corner of her forehead.

Monica sighed. "Yeah, I'm here," she told him. "Good old me, freaking out again."

Chandler sat down on the couch, pulling her down next to him. "I promise you that everything will be okay, okay?"

Monica nodded reluctantly.

"I know how hard this must be for you, but you have to understand. My mom's not like normal moms. She doesn't get all involved in my life. I mean, she's getting married again, next month, and I'm meeting what will be my new stepfather for the first time tonight. It's just the kind of person she is."

"She's getting married? How many times has she been married?"

Chandler thought for a moment. "Well, including my father, probably four or five times, maybe more."

"Really?"

Chandler nodded. "Yeah, and sometimes I don't meet the guy until after they're married, or in one, case after they were already divorced."

Monica laughed. "Wow, she goes through guys fast."

Chandler continued nodding. "That she does, but don't worry. I didn't inherit that from her."

Monica gave him a sly smile. "You mean that you don't go through guys fast?" She asked sarcastically.

Chandler rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, ha." He said. "You know what I meant. God, you've spent way too much time around me."

Monica smiled at his comment. "Well, I think that's a good thing."

Chandler smiled at her and kissed her gently. "Me too, now we better get moving. We have to be at the restaurant in an hour."

An hour later, Monica took a deep breath as the waiter led her and Chandler through the rows of tables to the one his mother and future stepfather sat at. She smiled at Chandler, who was holding her hand tightly. He was doing his best to reassure her. The waiter stopped at a table where an attractive woman sat with a good-looking, obviously younger man. The women appeared to be in her fifties, but wore a low cut dress and had her hair up. She looked like she was living in the past.

Monica felt Chandler drop her hand as he stepped forward to kiss his mother on the cheek.

"Hi, Mom," he said.

"Oh, hello Chandler, dear. How are you today?"

"I'm good, Mom." He paused for a moment. "I would like to introduce you to Monica." He stepped to the side slightly, allowing Monica to step forward.

Monica stepped forward and awkwardly held out her hand. She cleared her throat. "It's n-nice to meet you, Ms. Bing."

She laughed. "Please, call me Nora. I sound so old when people call Ms. Bing." She took Monica's hand, but stood up, pulling Monica into a quick, friendly hug. "You must be the girl my son has been talking about for the past year and a half."

Monica blushed, and looked down. She didn't know what to say to that comment.

Nora laughed. "Oh, and she's nervous. How cute."

Monica glanced up at Chandler, who was smiling at her. He stepped over to her and grasped her hand, once again.

Monica felt a new wave of confidence, and was about to respond, when Nora cut in.

"Oh right," Nora said. "Chandler, I would like to introduce you to my new lover, Edmond."

Monica saw Chandler nearly choke at the sound of his name, especially the way in which Nora pronounced it, like it had some importance.

"It's nice to meet you," Chandler told him, holding out his other hand.

"And you," Edmond told him, shaking his hand.

Monica and Chandler sat down in the two extra chairs, and Monica noticed that Chandler pulled his chair a little closer to her before sitting down. She was grateful for that, especially that he didn't let go of her hand. She was very slowly becoming more and more comfortable in her surroundings, but was still nervous. She glanced around. They were in a very fancy restaurant and suddenly she felt very underdressed. Chandler seemed to sense her dread and squeezed her hand gently. "You look beautiful," he whispered.

Monica smiled and took a deep breath. _This wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. _

The waiter came and took their drink orders and left. There was silence. No one seemed to know what to say. Monica was still too nervous to say anything to anyone, Chandler was eyeing his future stepfather, who couldn't be more than a few years older than him, and Nora and Edmond seemed interested in Chandler's reaction to Edmond.

Nora was the first to break the silence. "So, dear," she said turning to Monica. "What do you do for a living?"

Monica smiled. "I work at a restaurant downtown."

Nora nodded, smiling. "Oh, are you a waitress?"

Monica smiled, confidently. "No, I'm a chef."

Nora seemed surprised. "A chef! Wow! I don't think I've ever actually met a chef before." She paused. "How long have you been living in the city?"

Monica hesitated. "Well, I guess, about two and a half years."

Nora seemed to think for a minute. "You can't be any older than Chandler. How old were you when you moved out here?"

"Eighteen," Monica said. "Right after I graduated."

Nora nodded. "Needed to get away from the parents, huh?"

Monica attempted to laugh, but it came out as a half-laugh, half-choking sound. Luckily for her, the waiter arrived with their drinks and dinner menus. There was silence as they all read through the menus.

Monica cringed as she read through the menu. This was a very expensive restaurant and all of the meals were very expensive. And, even though she was a chef, she had never tasted many of the exquisite dishes. She glanced over at Chandler, who appeared to be reading through the menu with ease. She knew he had grown up eating at these kinds of places; it was like second nature to him. Monica shook her head at the prices; they were more than enough for both her and Phoebe to live on for a week when they had been on the streets. Personally, Monica would have been more comfortable with a hamburger.

Chandler scanned through the menu, looking for something to catch his eye. Personally, he hated these kinds of restaurants. In his mind there was no reason you should pay that much just to eat dinner. He glanced over at Monica, and knew she was thinking the same thing. She was good at hiding her feelings, but not good enough to hide them from him.

Chandler reached under the table to grab her hand. She glanced over at him in surprise, and smiled. He smiled back and squeezed her hand. He was so happy. She was being so brave for him, when he knew that inside she was terrified. Well, maybe not terrified, but she was sure scared. He hadn't told his mother anything about Monica's past, at her request, even though it didn't matter to him. In his mind, if it didn't bother him, it shouldn't bother anyone else. He was the one who was in love with her.

Chandler saw the waiter approach the table and everyone ordered, including himself. Again there was silence. He knew if no one said anything his mother would start in again, asking Monica questions and he didn't want Monica to be uncomfortable. Chandler took a deep breath and pasted a smile on his face.

"So," he began. "When is the wedding?"

Nora looked at him in surprise. She smiled and made a show of reaching over to pick up Edmond's hand, which they held together, about six inches off of the table. Why, Chandler had no idea. He never understood his mother.

"Well, actually, Edmond and I decided to get eloped."

"Oh," Chandler said. "When?"

"Next week," Nora told him, leaning over to kiss Edmond. She pulled away. "We made reservations to fly to Vegas on Tuesday."

"That's soon," Chandler said.

"Yes, well, we don't want to make a big fuss about it or anything. We just want to get married and spend the week in the hotel, if you know what I mean."

Chandler grimaced and nodded slightly. _Why couldn't he have a normal mother?_

Monica was taken aback by Nora's forwardness with her son. It was sure to be an interesting night.

A few hours later, Monica and Chandler found themselves strolling through Central Park, hand in hand.

They were both laughing at Chandler's impression of Edmond. Near the end of dinner Edmond had finally spoken up and had told Chandler that he would try to be a good father to him, and that Chandler was to respect him. The best part was when Edmond had told Chandler that he had the option of calling him 'dad' and that it could come with time.

"…oh, and if you're not comfortable calling me dad now, we can give it some time." Chandler broke off, laughing. Monica was laughing beside him.

Chandler stopped walking. "God, that guy was funny," he said, his laughter trailing off.

Monica stopped laughing and stared up at him, studying his face. She knew his mother's behavior hurt him, even though he didn't say anything about it. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, rocking gently back and forth. She felt Chandler follow suit and the two of them stayed there for a few minutes, neither saying a thing.

Monica finally spoke up. "I'm sorry," she told him softly, speaking into his neck.

Chandler pulled back slightly. "For what?"

Monica shrugged. "That you have to put up with that. I know you've told me stories, but I didn't think she was actually that bad."

Chandler smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. "She's not that bad," he said, then off of Monica's look, "she's a good person, she just doesn't seem to understand that she is an adult, and a mother."

"It's still not fair to you," Monica whispered, leaning forward, so she could rest her forehead against his.

Chandler sighed, sadly. "I'll admit that it does hurt, but I don't let it bother me anymore. It did when I was younger, but not now." Chandler laughed slightly. "Maybe this is why we're so close," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we both had crappy childhoods. We can commiserate with each other, we understand each other."

Monica smiled and pulled her arms back. She reached behind her and pulled his arms forward, lacing her fingers through his. She leaned in and placed a quick kiss on his lips. He smiled. Together, they walked home, and out of the cold, November night.

The next month flew by and soon it was Christmas time. Neither Chandler, Monica nor Phoebe had anywhere special to go for Christmas, so Joey invited them all to his family's Christmas party. They packed up and drove down on the twenty -third, planning on returning on the twenty-seventh. A bunch of Joey's relatives lived close together, so they would stay with one of them.

They ended up staying with one of Joey's sisters. Joey and Phoebe shared a room, as did Monica and Chandler. Christmas morning came fast.

Monica sighed happily as she slowly awoke from a pleasant sleep. She could feel Chandler's arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Her back was to him and there was no space between it and his chest. They had gotten the last room left at the house, with only a twin size bed. Chandler had immediately offered to sleep on the floor, but Monica assured him they could make this work, and they were. She loved being so close to him. She smiled to herself and snuggled even closer, closing her eyes, reveling in the feeling of being so close to him. She would have fallen back to sleep, but was startled by the door flying open and a very excited Joey running into the room, over to the bed. Monica sat up quickly, immediately thankful that she was wearing sweatpants and one of Chandler's old college sweatshirts.

"It's Christmas!" Joey exclaimed, happily.

Monica rolled her eyes. "Joey!" She said. "I thought something was wrong."

"Nothings wrong, Mon," he said, not understanding what she was saying. "But, it's Christmas! We have to get going."

"Get going where?"

"To open presents," Joey told her, as if in shock that she didn't know. He saw that Chandler was still asleep, so he pulled Monica out of the way, to wake Chandler up himself.

Chandler awoke to the feeling of being shook. He felt Monica being pulled away from him and instincts took over. He immediately reached out to pull her back to him and pushed the thing shaking him away. He opened his eyes, and saw that it was just Joey, so he relaxed. Monica ended up sitting beside him and Joey was standing beside the bed. They were both smiling at him.

He groaned. "What time is it?" He asked groggily.

"It's almost seven o'clock," Joey told him impatiently. "Now hurry up or we'll be late." He hurried out of the room.

Chandler groaned again and pulled Monica back down beside him. She lay down, wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest.

Chandler smiled and kissed her forehead. "Merry Christmas," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas," Monica whispered back. They stayed like this for a few moments before Monica sighed and sat up. "Okay, we have to get up."

Chandler shook his head. "No we don't."

Monica laughed and stood up. "Yes, we do, sweetie. Now come on, let's go."

Chandler's answer was incomprehensible.

Monica began pulling his arm. "Come on, sweetie. We don't want to disappoint Joey. Let's go."

Chandler groaned and rolled himself out of bed. "What do we have to wear?"

"Nothing," Monica said.

Chandler turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

Monica rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. We're supposed to show up in out PJ's."

"Okay," Chandler said, grabbing her hand. "Let's go."

Monica closed her hand around his, but didn't move. "Uh, Chandler?"

He turned to look at her. "What?"

"We should probably brush our teeth first."

"Right."

Minutes later the gang found themselves staked out in a corner of a very large basement room, surrounded by a very large number of people of all ages. There was a tree in the center of the room. The tree was very large, but was almost hidden by the mounds of presents around it.

Monica sighed happily for the second time that morning. She leaned back, against Chandler's chest. He was leaning against the wall and she was leaning back against him, his arms wrapped loosely around her. Phoebe was sitting beside them, also leaning against Chandler. Her head was resting on his shoulder and her eyes were closed. Apparently Joey had woken up very early in the morning and had been up and ready for some time, keeping her from getting any sleep.

For the most part the adults stayed around the edges, leaving the kids to distribute presents, well, the kids and Joey, who was running around like a kid. Every once in a while one of them would be handed a present with their name on it. They had all been instructed to put their presents under the tree.

Monica was handed a present and felt Chandler move an arm back as she opened it. He wrapped it around Phoebe, who he suspected was asleep. Monica ended up opening a gift from Joey, which turned out to be another framed picture of the four of them. She smiled. Joey was definitely immature at times, but he could be very sweet. She snuggled closer to Chandler, and smiled as she heard Phoebe's regular breathing beside her. She scanned the room, smiling. She had never been part of a big family and had never felt a part of her own. She enjoyed being so accepted by such a large, friendly group of people. It was a nice feeling.

"This is nice," she said aloud.

"What?" Chandler asked, from behind her.

"Christmas morning with a big family. I never had this growing up."

"Me neither," Chandler replied. "I usually woke up to find both of my parents gone, and celebrated with the staff who were there to watch me, and when I was older, I was usually alone."

"That's horrible," Monica said. "I mean, my mom was never nice to me on Christmas and I got like a small fraction of what my brother got, but I was still with my family."

Chandler shrugged. "It wasn't so bad. I was happier without my parents. My mom celebrated with me one year. She told me it would be just, us and then invited her new boy toy. It was worse than being alone. They made out like the whole time and asked me to leave the room for a couple hours at one point. I don't even want to know what went on then."

Monica half turned to face him. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Chandler shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

Monica shook her head. "You always do that."

"What?"

"Act like it didn't hurt you. Like your parents didn't hurt you."

"Well, it hurt at the time, but there's nothing I can do about it now."

"Still, you're allowed to be upset about it."

"I guess. I just don't like to talk about it much."

Monica squeezed his hand gently. "Just remember I'm here for you, just like you are for me."

His arm tightened slightly around her shoulder. "I know, and thank-you."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"This is the best Christmas I have ever had," Monica said honestly.

Chandler smiled. "Me too."

Later that night Monica yawned as she entered her and Chandler's bedroom and shut the door behind her. It was late and they had gotten up early. She was tired, but happy. It had been a great day. She walked over to Chandler, who was standing by the window. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her face into his back. She felt him gently pull her so that she was in front of him, his arms around her, and his head resting on her shoulder. They stood together, peering out the window before she yawned again.

"Tired?" Chandler asked.

Monica nodded. "Very."

Chandler kissed the back of her head. "Then I'll make this fast."

"You'll make what fast?" Monica asked, turning to face him.

Chandler smiled as he pulled a very small, wrapped gift out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Monica accepted the gift and smiled at him. She tore off the wrapping paper and opened a small box. She smiled at what she found. One by one, she pulled out three small charms. Chandler explained each one. There was a Christmas light to represent their first real Christmas together, and two charms to represent her best friend, Joey and Phoebe. Joey's was a mini statue of an Oscar award, to represent him as an actor. Phoebe's was a rainbow and cloud, to symbolize that she had been with Monica through good times and bad. Each had their name scrolled on the back. The year was scrolled on the back of the Christmas light.

"Oh, Chandler, this is so sweet. I love them. Now, I have to get your present." They had each saved one special present to give in private.

Before they knew it, Christmas was over and New Years fast approaching. Joey and Phoebe made reservations to go out to a fancy restaurant, and Monica and Chandler planned to spend the evening in.

Chandler finished setting the table and stood back to observe his handiwork. He sighed and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. Everything seemed to be ready. The table was set, the food cooked, and in the oven keeping warm, the extra candles were stashed strategically in the cupboard. He had planned everything.

Monica was working and would be home around eight. She would come home and see the wonderful dinner he had cooked and the suit he was wearing. She would then go to their room to change into something fancy. He counted on her closing the door so he would be surprised at what she was wearing. When she was getting changed he would get out the extra candles and set them all up. He smiled to himself. It was perfect. He glanced down at his watch. She would be home any minute. He began pacing nervously, glancing at the clock every couple seconds.

After a few minutes of this Chandler yelled inwardly and ordered himself to calm down. He sat down on the edge of the couch, playing with his hands. He only lasted a few moments before he began pacing again. He was relieved when he heard movement outside the door. It opened and Monica stepped into the room, a smile on her face.

"Hi Sweetie," she said as she dropped her keys and purse onto the side table and hung up her coat.

"Hey you," Chandler said, stepping closer to her and pulling her into a hug.

Monica rolled her eyes slightly and easily allowed herself to be enveloped into the hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed happily as he pulled her close to him. She loved the feeling of being in his arms. He held her for a few moments before pulling back and kissing her gently on the lips. He then leaned his forehead up against hers and sighed.

Monica was slightly concerned at his odd behavior. "Is everything okay?"

Chandler seemed surprised by the question. He began nodding quickly. "Yeah, of course. Everything if fine, great…wonderful. Yeah…nothing's wrong. Everything's fine," he paused for a moment. "Why? Are you okay? Is everything okay with you? Cause if something's wrong you can tell me…"

Monica cut him off by placing a finger on his lips. She laughed. "Chandler, calm down. You seemed stressed."

Chandler sighed and smiled at her. "I'm fine," he answered. "Just had a rough day and I'm looking forward to this evening."

"Are you sure that's all?"

Chandler nodded. "Very sure. Don't worry about me."

"Okay, well I'm gonna go get changed. Just give me a few minutes, okay?"

"Kay," Chandler said. He smiled and watched her walk across the living room and exit into their room. His smile grew as she closed the door behind her. He had guessed right. He waited a few moments, to make sure she wasn't coming back out, before springing into action. He pulled the candles out of the cupboard and hurried to set them all out and light them. He finished quickly and glanced around, making sure everything was perfect. He then made his way over to the bedroom door and waited for Monica to exit. He didn't have to wait long.

Monica exited and jumped slightly when she noticed him right in front of her. She was wearing a long sleeved, red shirt and a long, black skirt.

"You look beautiful," Chandler told her smiling.

Monica blushed. "You don't look so bad yourself."

Chandler smiled and took her hand, leading her forward. She gasped gently and stopped when she noticed the candles lighting up the kitchen and living room. She turned to face him.

"What's going on?"

Chandler smiled. He took a deep breath and slowly got down on one knee, while pulling a small, black velvet box out of his pocket.

Monica gasped when he went down and stood in front of him, her mouth gaping slightly.

Chandler cleared his throat. "Monica," he began. "I, uh, I felt something the first time I met you, and after we had coffee that day I promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I would never let you go. I love you, Mon, I really do and I want more than anything else to spend the rest of my life with you." Chandler paused for a moment, looking up, into Monica's eyes. He saw tears building in her eyes. "Monica, will you marry me?"

Monica was in shock. This was a complete surprise to her; she had never allowed herself to believe that he would ever want to marry her; that he would want to be with her forever. She swallowed and blinked, feeling tears of happiness stream down her face. She knelt down in front of Chandler. "Yes," she whispered before wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and pull her in close. She stayed there for a few seconds before pulling back, smiling. "Yes!" She said again, happily, before planting a quick kiss on his lips. He smiled at her, his eyes never leaving hers as he took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. He pulled her into another hug. They stayed in the embrace for a good couple minutes before finally breaking apart. Monica felt Chandler's hands slide up to her head and pulled her in to lean his forehead against his.

Monica smiled and laughed slightly. "I can't believe we're engaged! I mean it's so amazing."

Chandler smiled and closed his eyes, his forehead still up against hers. "I know. I love you."

"I love you, too, so much."

After a few minutes they picked themselves up, off of the floor and traveled over to the table to eat dinner. After dinner they settled on the couch to watch the countdown.

"5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year," they yelled out together. When the ball dropped, they leaned in for a kiss.

"This is gonna be a great year," Monica whispered happily.

Chandler nodded. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "The first year of the rest of our lives."


	12. Same Last Name

_**Chapter 12: Same Last Name**_

Monica awoke to the familiar feeling of warmth and happiness. She opened her eyes and glanced around. She realized she was in the living room. She also realized that Chandler's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. She smiled as she realized they must have fallen asleep the night before.

Monica sighed happily and pulled her head away from Chandler's shoulder to glance at the clock. It was still early morning. She yawned slightly and gently placed her head back onto Chandler's shoulder. She lay awake, basking in the feeling of being in his arms, for quite some time. She was wanted to stay like that forever, and she smiled when she realized that she could. She remembered Chandler's proposal the night before and snuggled closer to him and fell back to sleep with the knowledge that they would be together for the rest of their lives.

It was hours later, close to noon, that Monica awoke again. She felt Chandler moving below her. He seemed to be attempting to get out from under her. Monica immediately moved out of the way so he could get up.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie," Chandler told her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I didn't want to wake you up, but I really have to pee."

Monica laughed as he hurried to the bathroom. She got up and wandered over to the kitchen, debating over what to make for breakfast. She decided to go for pancakes. Chandler came out of the bathroom, and silently began helping her. They were just finishing when the heard the door creak open and Joey and Phoebe strolled in, collapsing onto two of the kitchen chairs.

"Morning," Monica offered brightly. The answers were incomprehensible. "Tired?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Phoebe looked up at her and nodded. "We didn't get home until six."

"Six!" Monica exclaimed. "I thought you were just going out for dinner?"

"Well, we were," Joey answered. "And then we went to a party, and then another party, and then…well you know."

"Have you guys gotten any sleep yet?"

"Yeah, we crashed for a few hours, but…" Joey cut off, yawning, "we're still tired."

Chandler smiled at him. "Well, then I guess you're too tired for breakfast."

Joey noticeably perked up at the word. He tried to cover for it. "Well, I guess I could eat a little bit, you know. I wouldn't want you and Mon to eat too much, because I didn't have any."

Chandler rolled his eyes and laughed. Monica laughed as well as she placed the plate of pancakes down on the table, along with butter and syrup. Chandler grabbed four plates from the cupboard and set them down as well. He then sat down beside Monica, pulling his chair over so her was right beside her. For a few minutes they ate in silence.

"So, did you guys have a good time last night?" Monica finally asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, it was great. You guys should have come. We had so much fun."

Monica shrugged. "We had a good night."

"What did you do?"

"Ate dinner, watched movies…you know, stuff," Monica said, no longer able to contain her smile.

Phoebe noticed Monica's grin. "What?"

"What?" Monica asked.

"Why are you smiling?"

Monica shrugged. "No reason," she said, not convincing anyone.

"No, really, what's going on?" Joey asked, now interested.

Monica smiled and glanced at Chandler who put his arm around her and nodded.

"We're engaged," Monica said, holding up her left hand.

"Oh My God!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you guys! Congratulations!" She proceeded to jump up and hug both Monica and Chandler.

Joey put in his own words of congratulations and also hugged the happy couple.

"So," Phoebe started as she sat down again. "When's the wedding?"

Monica laughed. "Pheebs, we've been engaged for, like, half a day."

"So?"

Monica rolled her eyes. "So, we don't know yet."

"Oh," Phoebe said. She seemed to get an idea. "Can I sing at your wedding?" She asked excitedly.

A couple months later…

Chandler hurried up the stairs and into his and Monica's apartment. He saw her sitting at the table and walked over to her. He kissed her on the forehead and sat down beside her.

"Hey," Monica said.

"Hey, you okay?"

Monica looked up at him. "Yeah, just a bit tired."

"Stressed?" Chandler asked, somewhat concerned.

Monica shrugged. "A little," she admitted. "We still have a lot to do, I mean we have to talk to the catering company about the menu and find a photographer and we still haven't heard back from everyone we invited and…"

Chandler cut her off by pulling her into a hug. "Shhh," he said softly. "Relax. We'll get everything done. Don't worry so much." He felt Monica relax in his arms and rest her head on his shoulder.

"Thank-you," she whispered.

"No problem," Chandler pulled back and placed a kiss on her forehead before completely letting go. "Now, let's see what we can get done right now. I got a phone call from a couple people at work today. They all said they're coming. Oh, and I bumped into an old friend today, haven't seen him for years. I invited him to the wedding. I hope you don't mind."

Monica shook her head. "Not a problem, the more the merrier, I mean there won't be many people anyway."

Chandler sighed sadly. He knew Monica was upset by the fact that she had no family coming. The only people she invited were work friends; she didn't know anyone else and she didn't think any of her family would come. Chandler felt bad because although he had few family members coming, he had a fair amount of friends from work and college.

"Don't think that way, Mon," he told her.

Monica shrugged. "Well, it's true."

Chandler pulled her into another hug. "You could try to invite your family. I bet they would come."

Monica shook her head. "No they wouldn't."

"Mon," Chandler started, but she cut him off.

"No, Chandler, I won't invite them, any of them. I wouldn't be able to handle them not showing up."

"You don't know they wouldn't come."

"Yes, I do. My mom made it very clear that none of them wanted me around, hell, my dad and my brother left the country so they wouldn't have to be there when she told me to leave. My family doesn't want me. I wasn't good enough for them."

Chandler sighed sadly. He hated what her family had done to her. She was such an amazing person; how could anyone not want her?

Monica stepped out from behind the screen in the small dressing room, and took a deep breath before turning around to look at herself in the mirror. She gasped slightly at her appearance, with the elegant, white wedding dress and veil. It was then that it hit her. She was getting married today. Married. Today. Monica jumped slightly as the door behind her opened and Phoebe, her Maid of Honor, walked into the room.

"Oh, Monica," Phoebe said. "You look so beautiful!"

"Really?" Monica asked, quietly.

"Really," Phoebe said, walking up to stand beside Monica in front of the mirror.

Monica smiled at the two of them standing there, all dressed up. "We've come so far, Pheebs, so far."

"I know," Phoebe said nodding. "I mean you planned this wedding in just over four months, that's gotta be a record or something."

Monica rolled her eyes. "No, I mean in life, Pheebs. Just think, a couple years ago, we were living on the streets, and now look at us. Look how far we've come."

"Oh that's what you meant," Phoebe said. "You're right. We have come a long way."

They were both silent for a few moments.

"Oh," Phoebe said, "I was told to tell you we had five minutes."

Monica felt a chill got through her spine. "It's funny, because in one sense I can't wait and it seems like five minutes is a long time, and in another sense I'm not ready and five minutes is too short."

Phoebe laughed. "Don't worry about it, Mon, everything will be fine."

"I know, but it seems like so much, such a big step."

"It is a big step," Phoebe said. "But, it's a step that you are ready for. You and Chandler. You guys are so perfect for each other. Believe me, you have nothing to worry about."

"You think so?"

Phoebe smiled and gave Monica a hug. "I know so."

Monica smiled. "Thanks."

There was a knock at the door and Joey peeked his head in. "You ready?" He asked Monica.

Monica took a deep breath and nodded.

"You okay?" Joey asked concerned.

Again Monica nodded. "Just a little nervous."

"Don't worry about it, it's perfectly normal to have cold feet. Just remember how much you and Chandler love each other and you'll be fine."

Monica stared at him in shock for a moment.

"What?" Joey asked.

"I've just never heard you say anything so profound before, Joe, but thanks. Is Chandler nervous too?"

Joey shook his head. "Actually Chandler is really calm. It's really freaking me out. I don't know what you did to him Mon. I mean he used to be so terrified of commitment and now he's so totally committed and happy. He must really love you Mon. I've never seen you like this."

"Thanks, Joe," Monica said, blinking back tears.

"Not a problem. Okay, give me a minute to get out there and come on down."

"It's not the price is right, Joe," Phoebe called to him as he left the room.

Monica nervously shifted her weight back and forth as she watched Phoebe walk down the aisle in front of her. This was it. Phoebe reached the altar, and the music changed. Everyone stood and turned to face her. Monica gulped. All eyes were on her as she began her way down the aisle alone, wishing she had a father to walk her down. Then she wouldn't be alone.

Her first few steps were tentative. She knew that every person here was watching her, was judging her. It was a lot to think about. She was half way down the aisle, wondering how she was every going to make it the rest of the way when she looked up, locking eyes with Chandler. Suddenly all her fears, all her doubts, disappeared. She was no longer apprehensive. She smiled slightly and completed her walk without even thinking. It was just natural.

Chandler smiled when he saw Monica begin her walk towards him. He could tell she was nervous. As she got closer she finally looked up and their eyes met. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Her eyes didn't leave his as she approached him. When she met him he took her hand and they stepped up to the priest together.

Chandler listened as the priest went through the early stages of the ceremony and reached the point of the vows.

Chandler was first. He smiled and took a deep breath. "The first time I met you, I had this feeling that I couldn't explain, and it grew stronger every time I saw you after that, and here we are three years later, ready to be together forever. Forever used to be a scary word for me. I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much that you wanted to be with them for the rest of your life, but I was wrong. I love you, Monica, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I won't settle for one day less than forever with you. I'll never let you go because, well, it's you." He smiled lovingly.

Monica was teary eyed as she began her vows. "Before I met you, I had been hurt a lot and had very little trust in people, but you changed that. You taught me to trust again, taught me how to have fun, how to laugh. You gave me unconditional love that I never thought I would ever have, even less deserve. You gave me the strength to overcome so many obstacles and I have so much to thank you for. I love you so much and I know that we will be okay. I know we'll last forever. We're meant to be together and I'm ready now, to make our commitment, our happiness, known. I love you."

The pries nodded. "Do you, Chandler Bing, take Monica Gellar to be your wife?"

Chandler smiled, his eyes never leaving Monica's. "I do."

"And do you Monica Gellar, take Chandler Bing to be your husband?"

"I do."

They exchanged rings.

The priest cleared his throat. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Chandler stepped forward and gently lifted Monica's veil. He leaned in and slowly captured her lips with his own. The kiss lasted several seconds before Chandler ended the kiss and pulled Monica into a close hug. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

"I love you, too, so much," Monica whispered back.

Chandler smiled and led her back down the aisle, Joey and Phoebe following them. They made their way into the hall where there were a few tables of small sandwiches and drinks set out. There were immediately bombarded by well-wishers. Nora pushed her way to the front. She pulled both Monica and Chandler into a hug.

"I'm so proud of you, Chandler," She said. "And I'm so happy for you both." She then promptly pushed her way back through the crowd to stand with her new boyfriend, as the marriage to Edmond hadn't survived the honeymoon.

Chandler was slightly in shock. "Wow," he said.

"What?" Monica asked.

"That's the first time she's ever said she was proud of me."

Monica laughed slightly and leaned in to kiss Chandler's cheek. "She's not so bad for a mother. I mean she's a bit out there, but she's a good person."

Chandler nodded. "I'm beginning to think so." Chandler looked up and seemed to spot someone in the crown. "Oh, come over here. There's someone I want you to meet."

"Okay," Monica said. "Who is it?"

"It's that guy I ran into a month ago, remember the guy I told you about?"

Monica nodded. "An old friend."

He led her up to a man, whose back was to them. "He was more than a friend actually," he said as he tapped the man on the shoulder. "He was my roommate in college," he said as the dark-haired man turned around. "Ross Geller," Chandler stammered over the last name slightly as he realized it was the same as Monica's.

Monica was in shock as she stared right into the eyes of her brother. She glanced beside him to see her old best friend, Rachel, holding his hand.

Chandler stood there silently, watching the scene unfold. He silently cursed himself for not realizing the similar last name earlier, for not realizing they looked alike. He watched them now and the relation was unmistakable. There was no doubt they were siblings. He saw Monica begin to shake her and felt her drop his hand. She stood there for a moment before turning and fleeing the room.


	13. Another Point of View

_**Chapter 13: Another Point of View**_

Ross stared in shock as he watched Monica, his long lost sister, flee the room. He didn't know what to do. He hadn't seen her in so long. Three years ago he and his father had returned home from a vacation to find Monica gone. His mother had been distraught, saying she and Monica had fought and Monica had taken off. Ross had been looking for her for years, and had begun to lose hope.

_Twenty-year old Ross Gellar, hopped out of the taxi he and his father had taken home from the airport and grabbed his bags from the trunk. His dad grabbed his bags and the two of them made their way up the driveway of the large, suburban house. _

"_We're home!" his father called out cheerfully, as he opened the door and dropped his bags in the front hall._

"_Oh, my boys are finally home," Judy said, walking in. She gave Jack a kiss and Ross a hug. "I missed you two."_

"_I missed you, too, mom," Ross said, returning the hug._

"_Where's my little Harmonica?" Jack said, loudly._

_Judy seemed to hesitate. "She's not here."_

"_Well, where is she?" Jack asked. _

"_I don't know."_

"_When will she be home?" Ross asked. He was eager to see Monica, as the two of them hadn't parted on the greatest of terms. Monica had been upset that she wasn't allowed to go on the trip. Judy had put in that it was a trip for Ross, so he could see Egypt. Monica had said she didn't care about where they went; she just wanted to be a part of a family vacation. Ross was never sure why Judy had been so against Monica going. He had had no problem with her going, but when push came to shove, he went along with his mother's opinion and told her to stay._

"_I don't know if she will ever come home," Judy said._

"_What?" Jack asked._

_Judy sighed, and appeared to be fighting back tears. "We had a fight, a week ago. It was over nothing. She got upset because I asked her to run some errands for me. She said some stuff to me, said she hated me, hated us. She left. She took a bag of clothes and other stuff. She also took a fair amount of money from my purse and some of my jewelry. I haven't seen or heard from her since." Judy broke off, her body shaking softly, her face in her hands._

_Jack stepped in, and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry, she'll be back."_

_Ross stood silently for a few minutes. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" _

_Judy paused for a second, her face still against Jack's shoulder. "I thought she would have been home by now. I didn't want to worry you. I just wanted you to have a good vacation…" Judy trailed off, sobbing into Jack's shoulder._

_Ross hadn't known what else to say. He had comforted his mother and had spent the next day calling her friends to see if any of them had heard from her. They hadn't. He called Rachel, who wasn't home. He remembered Monica saying she was away for a month, in Florida._

_The next week Ross had drove to Rachel's house, and was relieved to find her home._

"_Ross, what a surprise," Rachel said as she answered the door and was surprised to find her best friend's brother on the other side of the door._

"_Hi Rachel, can we talk?"_

"_Sure," Rachel said. "Come on in."_

_Ross allowed Rachel to lead his into the kitchen and the two of them say down on either end of the table._

"_What's up?" Rachel asked._

_Ross sighed. "Have you heard from Monica lately?"_

_Rachel shook her head. "Not since before I left, why, did something happen?" Rachel asked, suddenly concerned at the look on Ross' face._

_Ross was silent, not sure of what to say._

"_Ross," Rachel said, a sense of urgency in her voice. "What's wrong?"_

_Ross sighed again. "She's gone."_

"_Who, Monica?"_

_Ross nodded._

"_Where did she go?"_

_Ross shook his head. "I don't know. I got home a week ago. My mom said they had a fight and she took off. No one has seen or heard from her since."_

"_Oh my God," Rachel said. "That's awful. Where could she have gone?"_

"_I have no idea. I've called all of her friends and all of our relatives. No one knows where she is."_

"_Well, we have to find her," Rachel cried out. "Where else could she be?"_

_Ross shook his head. "I don't know where else to look. It's like she disappeared."_

_Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes. "We have to find her," she repeated. "We can't give up."_

"_We won't," Ross said, walking around the table to give her a hug. "We won't."_

_They searched for three years, and still never found her, until one day…_

Ross and Rachel entered the wedding hall, and sat down near the back. Ross recognized a few people, from college, but didn't approach any of them. He would have plenty of time to catch up with old friends later. He had hoped to talk to Chandler before the ceremony, but it had taken longer to get there than he had originally thought. He hadn't seen or talked to Chandler since they had graduated. They had promised to remain friends, but the time had just flown by so quickly. Neither of them had made the initiative to contact the other.

He had been surprised when he had bumped into Chandler while walking down the sidewalk. He had been in a hurry as he was running late for a meeting. They had only had a minute or two to talk, and he had been surprised to hear Chandler was getting married. He had agreed to come, but that was about it. They hadn't been able to say anything more.

Ross smiled as he saw Chandler standing at the altar. He was surprised to see Chandler so calm about getting married. He remembered his friend as being very commitment phobic.

"Is that your friend?" Rachel asked from beside him.

Ross nodded. "That's Chandler."

"He's cute," Rachel said.

Ross looked over at her. "Cuter than me?" He asked, jokingly.

Rachel smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well…"

"Fine," Ross said, letting go of her hand and turning away from her slightly. "Fine," he repeated. "Go, run off with my friend, see what I care," he said, still joking.

Rachel rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Ross's neck, pulling him around to face her. She planted a kiss on his lips. "Don't be an idiot," she said.

Ross laughed. "I love you," he said.

Rachel laughed as well. "I love you, too."

They were cut off by the sound of music starting and they watched as the maid of Honor and Best man walked, arm in arm, down the aisle.

They stood with the rest of the church and watched as the bride walked down the aisle. She walked alone and the veil covering her face hid her features.

Ross and Rachel sat quietly as the priest began the ceremony and eventually asked Chandler to say his vows. Ross was impressed by the maturity he heard in Chandler's voice as he voiced his emotions. Ross was startled slightly at the sound of his sister's name, but didn't have enough time to dwell on it, as the priest motioned for her vows.

He felt Rachel jump beside him as a very familiar voice rang out from the bride's mouth. He turned to Rachel, who was staring at him in shock. They made eye contact, both knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"It can't be her, can it?" Rachel whispered softly.

Ross shook his head. "I don't know. It sure as hell sounds like her, though."

They watched silently as the couple exchanged rings and were pronounced husband and wife. They watched as Chandler stepped forward and gently lifted the veil covering her face, erasing all doubt that this was, in fact, the Monica they were looking for.

The couple kissed and walked back down the aisle together, the Best Man and Maid of Honor following. Ross and Rachel were almost the last people to leave the hall. They didn't know what to do. Should they approach Monica?

Rachel stopped Ross and pulled him over to the side of the room. "What should we do?" she asked.

Ross shook his head. "I don't know. It's her, right, you saw it too."

Rachel nodded. "It's definitely her," she paused. "Do you think we should go say hi, or just leave?"

"Well, I want to talk to her."

"Me, too," Rachel said, nodding, "but I'm beginning to think she doesn't want to see us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she ran away three years ago. We haven't heard from her since then and now she got married, and didn't bother inviting either of us. Maybe she just doesn't care about us. Maybe she never did."

Before Ross could answer, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to come face to face with Chandler and Monica. He watched as Monica looked up at him, and shock appeared in her eyes. She seemed to hesitate for a few seconds. Ross would have said something, but Rachel's words were still going through his mind.

Before anyone could say anything, Monica stepped back and took off out of the room. Ross watched Chandler stare after her for a few seconds before turning back to Ross and taking off after her.

Ross and Rachel stood in shock for the better part of a minute, before; they too, went after the bride.


	14. Looking Up

Chapter 14: Looking Up 

Chandler could hear footsteps behind him as he ran out of the hall and into the lobby. He spotted the door to the stairwell closing and made a run for it. He swung open the door and stopped. He had two choices; he could go up or he could go down.

"What the hell do I choose?" Chandler muttered to himself. He was about to go up when a small, almost undetectable noise caught his attention and he immediately went running down the stairs. He eventually found Monica collapsed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs; tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hey, sweetie," he said softly as he slowly approached her broken form. "Are-are you okay?"

Monica said nothing, only cried harder as he sat down and gently pulled her into his arms.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Chandler said gently, kissing the top of her head. He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry," he finally whispered quietly.

Monica lifted her head slightly. "Why are you sorry?" She asked, timidly.

Chandler shook his head, mentally scolding himself. "I invited him. I didn't realize he was your brother. I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

Monica laughed slightly and leaned her head back down against Chandler's chest. "It's not your fault, Chandler. Don't worry I don't blame you at all. I was just…I don't know, in shock I guess. But I guess it had to happen sooner or later."

"I'm still sorry," Chandler said, planting a kiss on Monica's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Are you okay?" Chandler asked gently.

Monica sighed and nodded. "I've had dreams where something like this happens, you know, I bump into one of them. It was better than I thought it was going to be."

Chandler nodded and took a breath. "What do you want to do now?"

Monica shook her head. "I'm not sure."

"I could ask him to leave," Chandler offered.

Monica seemed to hesitate for a moment. "No, I couldn't ask you to do that. You invited him for a reason. He was a good friend of yours, right?"

"Right," Chandler said, agreeing. "He was a good friend, but I haven't seen him in years and compared to you he means almost nothing to me. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Monica smiled and turned slightly to face Chandler. "You are so good to me."

Chandler smiled and shrugged. "I do what I can," he said, a small smile playing on his face. "So, what do you want to do?"

Monica took a deep breath. "I want to talk to him."

"Really?" Chandler said, taken aback. "Are you sure?"

Monica nodded. "I want to hear what he has to say and we can take it from there."

"Sounds good."

"Can you be there with me when I talk to him?" Monica asked, loosing eye contact, going back to being timid.

Chandler smiled. "Of course."

They made their way back up the stairs and were about to go back out the door when footsteps rang out from above. They paused as the footsteps came down the last flight of stairs towards them and Ross and Rachel came into view. Rachel seemed to slow slightly at the sudden appearance of her former best friend, however Ross didn't even slow down as he reached the landing and flew towards his sister. In his and Rachel's frantic search for Monica he had realized he didn't care about why she ran away. He just wanted to have his sister back.

Monica jumped slightly as Ross rushed towards her, but had no time to get out of the way as he reached her and pulled her into a tight hug. Monica only hesitated for a moment before relaxing in the embrace.

"Oh, God, Monica," Ross said through tears, still holding on closely to his long lost sister. "Where the hell did you go? I missed you so much."

"Really?" Monica asked quietly, now crying as well.

"Of course, Monica. We all missed you." Ross looked up and motioned silently to Rachel, who quickly joined the hug as well.

"Monica, me missed you so much," she repeated.

Monica almost lost herself in tears. So many emotions were rushing through her head. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to revel in the feeling of being with these two people who she had lost so many years ago. After a few moments Rachel pulled back slightly and broke the silence.

"Why did you leave?" She whispered, pain evident in her voice.

The words rang through Monica's voice and she realized what she was doing. She was with the people who had hurt her so much. Monica immediately tensed and jumped back, away from Ross and Rachel. Ross reached out to grab her arm, confused written in his expression, but Monica pulled her arm away and jumped back even further, standing by Chandler for protection.

"Monica, what's going on?" Ross asked, stepping forward again.

Monica countered by stepping back, so she was still beside Chandler, but a step behind. Chandler reached out for her hand, trying to give her his full support and when Ross went for Monica the third time, Chandler stepped in front of her, blocking Ross' path to her.

"I think she's made it pretty clear that she doesn't want you near her," Chandler said, trying to stay calm. Inside he had no idea what was going on and had no idea what to do. The only thing that was making sense in his mind was that he had to be there for his new wife, no matter what.

Ross appeared surprised by Chandler's action. "Get out of my way, man," Ross said, trying to keep his voice light. "That's my sister. I have the right to talk to her."

Chandler's laugh was almost cynical. "And she's my wife," he said, looking Ross right in the eye. "And you haven't been her brother for a very long time. You weren't there when she needed you, when she needed support. You didn't want her around anymore…" Chandler trailed off, shaking his head. He looked down for a second, before looking straight into Ross' eyes, "you have no right to call her your sister. Not after all you did."

Ross was left speechless. He watched as Monica lost her current fight with tears and broke down once again. Chandler turned to pull her into a tight hug, rocking her gently back and forth. Ross had no idea what to do or say. What had Chandler meant about him not being there. He had spent the past three years searching for her. He hadn't done anything wrong. She had taken off and never come back.

Rachel watched Chandler comfort her former best friend. Although she wasn't sure why Monica had left in the first place, or whether or not she really wanted to get to know her again, but she could tell that there was more to this story then she was previously aware of. She could tell Monica was hurting. Rachel stepped forward and quietly approached Monica and Chandler. She touched Monica's shoulder gently and felt Monica jump at the touch. Chandler gave her a warning look, but she motioned that it was okay.

She cleared her throat. "Monica, honey, I, uh, don't know why any of this happened, why you left, but I really missed you. We all did. And I want to get to know you again. I want to be your friend again."

Chandler felt Monica jump slightly and opened his eyes to see the girl who had come with Ross, whom he assumed to be Rachel, standing behind Monica. He immediately warned her not to try anything with his eyes, but trusted her when she motioned that it was okay. He felt Monica go still as Rachel said her little speech and held his breath while he waited for her reaction. He somehow trusted this woman, even though they had never exchanged a word. Ross, on the other hand, he was unsure about. Sure, the two of them used to be close, but that move from Ross, pressuring Monica, sent him over the edge. He wouldn't let anyone do anything to harm her, not if he could help it.

Monica pulled back form Chandler and turned to face Rachel, still keeping her back pressed up against Chandler for support. "What do you mean you don't know why I left?" She asked in a small voice.

Rachel was taken aback. She half-smiled. "Cause you disappeared, honey. I got back and you were gone. No one knew where you went."

Monica couldn't say anything. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, no sound coming out.

Ross took this opportunity to step forward, his hands up in front of him, as if declaring peace for the present time. "We didn't know where you went, Monica. We were really worried about you."

"But you didn't want me," Monica whispered almost silently.

"What?" Both Ross and Rachel asked simultaneously.

Monica shook her head slightly, fighting back tears. She nodded to herself and looked up, at both Ross and Rachel. "I left because I was told to, and don't try to pretend that's not what you wanted for my sake. I'm over hurting. I don't need the aggravation anymore. I'm starting over and the past is behind me."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, who asked you to leave?"

"Mom," was all Monica said, losing Ross' gaze. She looked down to her feet, once more feeling the shame of being such a disappointment to her family. She wished for the millionth time that she could have been better.

"What!" Ross asked. "She said you two had a fight and you took off. She said you stole some money and jewelry and she didn't hear from you again. We searched for you for so long, but you were no where to be found."

"I didn't take anything," Monica said, looking up. "Only a bag of my own stuff. And we didn't fight. She sent me out to get some groceries and when I got home she told me I had an hour to get out. She said…she said…"

"What? What did she say?"

Monica sighed, once again averting all eye contact. "She told me I was no longer her daughter. She said I was an accident, that none of you wanted me around anymore. So, I left."

Ross shook his head. "She wouldn't do something like that. She couldn't."

Monica snorted slightly. "Well, believe it."

Ross stuttered for a few seconds. "But, why would she do that?"

Monica shrugged. "I don't know. Wait, do mean you really didn't know why I left? You didn't want me to leave?"

Ross shook his head. "Of course not, Monica. You're my sister. I love you. I never wanted you to leave. I missed you. I really did."

"We all did," Rachel said. She stepped forward, pulling Monica into a hug. Ross soon joined and the three of them stood there for a good couple minutes before finally breaking apart.

Ross noticed Chandler standing to the side looking awkward. He offered a smile and stepped forward, holding out his hand. "No hard feelings about before?"

Chandler smiled and shook his hand. "Of course not."

Monica's head was reeling as they made there way up the flight of stairs to Monica and Chandler room for the night. They had a lot to talk about and about an hour before they were to be picked up for photos. Monica allowed herself a small smile. Things were looking up.


	15. Be There

_**Chapter 15: Be There **_

After entering the hotel room, Chandler and Monica sat on the couch, while Ross and Rachel pulled up two chairs from the small table. At first, no one spoke.

"Are you sure she told you to leave?" Ross finally asked.

Monica said nothing, but nodded solemnly.

Ross sighed and shook his head. "I really don't know what to say about that. I knew something was weird when she told us you had been gone a week and she didn't tell us or report you missing. I should have known what had happened. I should never have believed that you ran away and stole anything."

Monica offered a small smile. "Don't worry about it. She had you convinced of that and she had me convinced that all of you knew what was happening and had left so you wouldn't have to be around."

"I guess I'll have to talk to her. I don't know what I'm going to say."

No one had any suggestions.

Rachel cleared her throat and attempted to get off of the subject that was obviously making everyone uncomfortable. "So, where did you go? When you left, I mean."

Monica shrugged. "I got on the first bus to pass by. It took me into the city and I stayed there. I still haven't left."

"But, where did you stay in the city? It's really expensive."

Monica sighed and she felt Chandler take her hand for support. It didn't go unnoticed by Ross and Rachel. She averted her eyes. "Well, I didn't have any money, well barely any money. I met Phoebe when I got off the bus and I stayed with her," she paused for a few seconds, "in an alley."

"A what!" Ross asked. "My sister lived on the streets?"

Monica nodded gravely. "I had no where else to go."

"Well that explains why we couldn't find you," Rachel said. "You weren't listed anywhere."

"For how long?"

"A year. We eventually found someone who would hire us and saved enough to rent this little, dingy apartment for about six months. We slept on a mattress we found on the street and a few old blankets, but it was better than before. We then got a slightly better apartment and six months later moved in across from Chandler and his best friend Joey."

"Is that how you two met?" Rachel asked, turning to Chandler. She could see that Monica was having a hard time and wanted to take some pressure off of her.

Chandler shook his head. "Well, originally, we ran into each other on the sidewalk, and I mean literally ran into each other. I think we both felt something, but Mon took off before I had a chance to say anything. We saw each other again about six months later at this little coffeehouse and had a coffee, but Monica turned me down. I finally got her to go out with me a while after that when I saw her at the grocery store. They moved in across the hall because we were there and knew the apartment was available. Eventually I moved in with Mon and Phoebe moved in with Joey." Chandler realized something and continued. "Phoebe and Joey were the Best Man and Maid of Honor."

"Wow," was all either Ross or Rachel could say at first.

"I am so sorry, Monica," Ross said. "I wish I could have done something to help you at the time. I wish I had known. If I had, I would have helped. I wouldn't have let mom do that to you. It wasn't right." Ross got up and stepped forward, pulling Monica into a hug. At that moment any lasting negative thoughts towards the other sibling evaporated for both of them. They had their trust back.

Chandler cleared his throat. "I hate to break this up, but we're being picked up in about ten minutes. We gotta get going."

Monica pulled back. "Right, for the pictures. I almost forgot. I guess I have to redo my make-up," she said, laughing. She knew she must have long, dark streaks going down her face from all of the crying.

"Here, I'll help," Rachel volunteered and followed Monica into the bathroom, thus leaving Ross and Chandler alone.

Ross cleared his throat. "Chandler, I, uh, I want to apologize for before. I knew she was uncomfortable and I kept pushing. I'm sorry."

Chandler smiled. "Don't worry about it. You both had very different stories in your heads and your reaction suited yours."

"And your reaction suited yours," Ross said, looking Chandler in the eye.

"What?"

Ross smiled. "You thought we had hurt her and you knew she was upset so you were there for her. I'm glad she has someone like that. She deserves it after all she's been through."

"Thanks, man."

"No problem. And do you know what this means?"

Chandler shook his head. "No, what?"

"We're brothers in law."

Chandler smiled. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right," Ross said and they both laughed.

They talked for a few more minutes about what each had done since college. It wasn't long before the girls exited the bathroom, Monica looking just as flawless as before.

"You look beautiful," Chandler told Monica.

She blushed slightly, the color still rising, even through the make-up. "Well, Rachel's an expert." Rachel nodded and flicked the brush in her hand for effect.

"Are you ready to go?" Chandler asked, glancing at his watch.

Monica nodded.

"Okay, then lets go."

He turned to Rachel and Ross. "Are you guys coming to the reception afterwards?"

"Only if you want us there," Ross said, turning to Monica, who nodded.

"I do, I really do."

"Then we'll be there."


	16. The Dances of Life

Chapter 16 : Dances of life 

Chandler smiled at the camera as he held Monica close to him, both of them facing the camera. The photographer had been snapping pictures for the better part of an hour and Chandler could only hope he would soon be done. They had done every combination of pictures possible, both with people and poses, and the last few were to be of just him and Monica. The flash went off and it was time to change again. Chandler gently turned Monica around so she was facing him and pulled her in close. The flash went off with both smiling happily at the camera, Monica's head resting against Chandler's shoulder and his head resting on hers. They pulled apart; both thinking it was over and smiled softly at each other. Not a word was said between them as they took a moment in each other's arms. A final flash went off and they both looked over at the photographer, surprised. He simply smiled and began putting his equipment away.

Monica laughed slightly in his arms. He smiled down at her and took her hand as he led her back to the limo along with Phoebe and Joey. It would be a short drive to the reception hall. The four piled in through the door and took seats.

Phoebe sighed happily as she leaned her head against Joey's shoulder. "I'm so happy for you guys," she said. She smiled as she watched Monica blush slightly and lean in against Chandler. Chandler responded by wrapping an arm tightly around her and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm happy for me, too," Monica said, laughing. She closed her eyes and rested her head gently against Chandler's shoulder. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically. She must have dosed off, because before she knew it Chandler was gently shaking her.

"Wake up, sweetie. We're here."

"Uhhhggg," Monica groaned. "Do we have to go?"

Chandler laughed. "Well, seeing as the only reason all of these people are here is to see us, then yes, we have to go."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Smart ass," she muttered.

Chandler gave her a look as he helped her out of the car and pulled her in for a quick hug before leading her through the front door of the reception hall, Joey and Phoebe at their heels.

"I am pleased to announce the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Chandler and Monica Bing," was announced as Monica and Chandler stepped into the large room. There was a couple seconds of clapping before most went back to talking. A few came forward to give the happy couple their congratulations.

"Do you see Ross and Rachel anywhere?" Monica asked after a few minutes.

"Not yet," Chandler said, glancing around. His gaze came to rest on the door at the other side of the hall. He motioned his head towards Ross, motioning them over. They exchanged a glance and together, headed towards the door.

"What's going on, Ross?" Monica asked as she stepped up to the door, her confidence high from the presence beside her. She couldn't read her brother's expression, but he looked almost…excited.

"There's someone out here who wants to see you," he said softly, motioning outside.

Monica wasn't sure what to expect as she stepped away from her comfort zone and peered out the door. She immediately recognized the form on the other side. He looked a little older, but still the same man she had once known. "Dad," she stated, amazed to see her dad after all these years. Why was he here, she wondered?

"There's my little Harmonica," he said, tears evident in his voice. He stepped forward, and before Monica could react he had pulled her into a big bear hug. "Ross told me what happened. I'm so sorry, honey. I wouldn't have let it happen if I had known. I feel like an awful father."

"It's okay," Monica said, quietly.

"No, it's not," Jack said forcefully. "I believed her, even though I knew you would never do anything like that. I knew, but I still believed her. I'm a terrible father."

"No, you're not," Monica said. "She was good at what she did. She had me convinced that all of you wanted it to happen."

Jack sighed. "It's still not okay." He said as they pulled away.

Monica shrugged. "There's not much to do about it now."

"I'm very proud of you, though," Jack said, suddenly. "From what I hear, you accomplished quite a bit in only a few short years."

"Thanks," Monica said, then realized she had forgotten one thing. "Oh, Dad, this is Chandler," she said motioning towards Chandler, keeping his distance at the door. "And Chandler, this is my dad."

"It's nice to meet you, Sir," Chandler said, stepping forward, his hand outstretched.

"You too, son," Jack said, shaking Chandler's hand.

There was a slight awkward pause between the two men, the former most important man in Monica's life, and the current (and future) one. After a moment, Chandler offered a smile and a look of understanding passed between them. "So are you guys coming in?" He asked.

Jack hesitated. "Only if that's what you want," he said, looking straight at Monica.

Monica smiled and nodded. "I'd love for you to be here."

"We both would," Chandler added, smiling as he wrapped an arm around his wife.

Jack returned the smile and put a hand on Chandler's shoulder as he walked past.

"Uh, let me just go talk to the catering people and we'll add a seat to Ross and Rachel's table," Chandler said as he walked off to find the head caterer, leaving Monica behind with her family.

After a slight hesitation Jack pulled his daughter in for another hug. "I really did miss you, Harmonica. I really did. I should have know, I should have known."

"It's okay, dad, really."

"No, it's not. No daughter of mine should have gone through what you went through. It's just not right."

Monica offered a small smile. "Well, there isn't anything you can do about it now, so don't worry about it. You wouldn't have been able to find me anyway." Monica hesitated. "She, uh, she told me what you did."

"What did I do?"

"She said that she wanted to get an abortion when she was pregnant, but that you stopped her. Thank-you for that."

Jack seemed taken aback. "I had forgotten about that. I just thought it was hormones that were making her act that way. She never mentioned it after you were born. I guess I should have thought more about it. I'm so sorry. I should have known something like this would happen."

Monica shook her head. "You had no way of knowing. None of us did. I should have known you wouldn't have anything to do with it. It's my fault, really."

Now it was Jack's turn to shake his head. "No, you should never have been put in that situation in the first place. I should have been suspicious when she wouldn't let you come to Egypt with your brother and I."

Monica felt tears slowly springing to her eyes and shook her head, trying to stop them.

Jack noticed. "Let's not talk about this here and now, okay? This is supposed to be a happy day."

Monica laughed slightly and nodded. "Oh, don't worry it is."

"So, this guy you married, would I approve?"

Monica laughed and nodded.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to walk you down the aisle."

"That's okay, cause you're here now."

"And now I would like to invite the bride and her father to the dance floor for the traditional father-daughter dance." The DJ announced.

Monica glanced at Chandler, knowing he must have told the DJ to do that. Chandler simply smiled back and winked, as Monica was lead to the floor by her father.

Once on the dance floor, Monica sighed happily. She felt so…normal. She was at her wedding dancing with her father. She had never expected this to happen. She had been pretty sure she would run into at least one member of her family again, but had never allowed herself to dream anything this good would happen. She had imagined dirty looks and feigned ignorance, never smiles and happiness.

It wasn't long before other father-daughter combinations joined them on the floor. Monica sighed happily again. This was one of the best days of her life. Before she knew it, the song had ended and other couples were joining them.

Someone cleared their throat. "May I cut in?"

Monica looked over and smiled at a slightly nervous looking Ross.

"Hey," she said as they began dancing.

"Hey, I just wanted to say, I really am glad to see you again, Monica. I really missed you. We all did. Promise me you won't disappear, okay. Promise me that we're going to stay in touch and be a- a family, like we're supposed to. Like when we both have kids, they'll be cousins and play together.

Monica nodded and smiled, tears forming in the back of her eyes. "That sounds really nice."

Ross smiled. "I know. So," Ross said, changing the subject. "You somehow managed to end yourself up with my roommate. That's gotta be more than just coincidence."

Monica laughed. "I guess. You were meant to come today."

Ross nodded. "I guess I was."

It wasn't long before Monica found herself dancing with Joey, who didn't seem as happy with the new developments as everyone else.

"Are you sure they're for real? Are you sure they didn't know what really happened?" He asked. "Cause it seems really fishy to me. I wouldn't trust them just yet…"

Monica laughed. "Don't worry, Jo. I trust them. I don't really know why, I just do, okay? If they are telling the truth, which I'm sure they are, then my life could be normal."

"Normal is overrated," Joey said.

"What?"

"Normal, it's not always the best thing. Like, how do you define normal? There's no such thing."

Monica sighed. "I know there isn't, Jo, but I really want to have my family back in my life. I missed them."

"Just because they're your blood doesn't make them your family."

Monica smiled at Joey; she had never heard him so insightful. "Look, you, Phoebe and Chandler are my family. You are the only ones who were ever really truly there for me. This is just something I have to try. If I don't try to get to know them again, I'll regret it forever."

Joey looked at her and sighed. "Fine, just know, if they do anything to hurt you again, I'll kick their asses."

Monica laughed at Joey's protectiveness. He was always like that with her and Phoebe. Maybe he wasn't the smartest guy in the world, but she wouldn't trade his friendship for a million others in the world. "Okay, Joey. You have my full permission to kick their asses if they try anything."

Joey nodded, and offered a smile. "Good, because I will."

"I know, and thanks for that. I don't think you have been introduced yet. Come on and meet them."

"O-kay," Joey said reluctantly and he allowed Monica to guide him over to Ross, Rachel and Jacks table.

Monica yawned as she rested her head against Chandler's shoulder during the last dance of the night. She was so tired, both emotionally and physically, but she had to admit, this had been one of the best days of her entire life. She was married to the best guy in the world, she had two amazing friends, who showed their support today, and she was getting her family back. Life was pretty good.

"I love you," she whispered into Chandler's shoulder.

"I love you, to," she heard him say back, as he pulled her in closer.

Monica was aware that everyone was watching, and normally she would have been embarrassed, but right at this moment she didn't care. She was just so happy. It wasn't long before the guests were clearing out, each stopping to extend their best wishes before they left. Ross, Rachel and her father left, leaving numbers to be reached and making sure to take her number with them. They were determined not to lose touch again. Before they knew it the last guest had left and the tired couple made their way up to their room.

Monica waited patiently while her husband struggled to get the key card to work on the door, laughing gently at his exclamation of triumph when he finally succeeded. She went to step inside, but he held an arm out to block her. She looked back at him, confused, but was met with a goofy grin.

Chandler couldn't hold back his smile as he pocketed the card and effortlessly scooped his new wife up in his arms, walking across the threshold. He laughed with her at her surprise and walked across the room, spinning around a couple times before falling onto the bed. It was late and he was exhausted and he knew they had to be up early to catch a plane the next morning, but he could remember a happier moment in his entire life. Monica was half on top of him and half beside him, her eyes bright with laughter.

"I can't believe you just did that," Monica finally managed to say.

Chandler smiled. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to do that?"

Monica shook her head, her laughter finally starting to die down. "It's been such an amazing day," she said happily. "I can't believe everything that's happened."

Chandler shook his head. "Me neither. I still can't believe I got you to marry me."

Monica laughed. "Well, believe it mister. You're stuck with me now."

Chandler smiled and leaned in to capture her lips for a few moments. "I think I can deal with that." He kissed her again, starting to lean over her. "I can definitely deal with that."

Monica smiled into the third kiss, in awe at the man above her. She still couldn't believe she was married; it seemed so grown up. She almost laughed at the thought.

Chandler pulled away. "What are you laughing at?"

Monica shook her head. "Nothing. It's just that being married suddenly seems so grown up."

Chandler seemed to take in her words for a moment then shrugged. "Well, I guess that means we can do grown up things, huh?" He waggled an eyebrow playfully.

Monica laughed freely at his antics, staring right into his bright, shinning blue eyes before hooking a finger through the collar of his shirt and pulling his lips back down to hers. They weren't going to get much sleep tonight.

**AN: I have received many reviews and e-mails asking about scenes where Monica finally tells off Judy, but to be honest I had never thought about that. So, my question is, where do all of you want this story to go? And what kind of scene with Judy are looking for? Please let me know and I'll try to make it happen. Thanx again. **


	17. Aftermath

_**Chapter 17: Aftermath**_

**AN: So, I've finished re-vamping the previous chapters and here the first new chapter, which I'm surprised to say is the first update in two and a half years! I can't believe its been that long. I hope someone out there will still remember this story and I'm so sorry for the exceptionally long delay. It was always my intention to finish this story and I'll make sure to do so. Thanks for any continued support! **

Monica Bing sighed tiredly as she closed her eyes, her head resting against her husband-of-less-than-24-hours' shoulder. The gentle motion of the plane was lulling her to sleep. Chandler had an arm wrapped loosely around her, his head resting on hers. The plane had just taken off and was still climbing higher, but Chandler was already fast asleep beside her. They hadn't really gotten any sleep the night before. Monica was tired, but happy to remain awake for a few moments, reveling in all that had happened. She couldn't believe they had made it to this point. They were married, finally, and on their honeymoon. Two weeks of sand and sun.

She was almost overwhelmed with everything that had happened the previous day. As if getting married wasn't enough, now she had her family back too. She wanted badly to get to know them again, to feel like she belonged with them again, but now that the shock was wearing off and reality was setting in, she realized just how complicated the situation had become. She couldn't just go back to the way things had once been. As much as she missed her father and brother, she didn't feel like she could handle seeing her mother again, not for a long time, so any family get-together was out of the question. When would she actually see her family? She sighed tiredly and yawned. She had a lot to sort out and was actually glad everything had happened when it did, because it gave her a two week buffer period where she didn't have to do anything about it. She now had time to decide exactly what she wanted to do. She yawned again and snuggled closer to Chandler, smiling at the knowledge that he would support any decision she made.

xxxxx

Phoebe rested her chin on her hands as she stared across the table at her boyfriend. It was the day after the wedding and Monica and Chandler had left early that morning for their honeymoon, leaving Phoebe and Joey alone at home. "So, what are we going to do?" She asked.

Joey looked up. "You mean for lunch?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "No, about Monica's family."

Joey scowled. "I don't like them."

Phoebe almost laughed. "You only met them once."

"I don't care. It's not right. They can't just swoop in here and expect to take her away from us. I'm not going to let that happen."

"I don't think that's going to happen, Joe."

"You bet your ass that it' not going to happen."

This time Phoebe did laugh. "No, I mean I don't think that's why they're here. I think they honestly didn't know the truth and now they want to get to know her again. I'm telling you, Joe, aura doesn't lie. Monica wants to see them again and we have to support her on that."

Joey huffed. "Fine, but I still don't like it. I mean if they thought she ran away, why didn't they look for her?"

"Who says they didn't? I mean we lived on the street for a year after she left home. The only way they would have found us is if they happened to come across us and New York is a big city."

"Yeah, okay. I guess you're right. I just don't want her to get hurt."

Phoebe smiled. "Me neither, and we'll make sure that doesn't happen, but I think we need to give this a chance. They seemed like good people."

Joey nodded. "They did seem nice. But if I ever bump into her mother, I don't care if she's a woman, I'm going to kick her ass."

"Get in line."

xxxxx

Rachel yawned sleepily and blinked her eyes against the light as she slowly began to wake up. The curtain was open and she could see it was very bright out. She groaned and rolled over, reaching up for the alarm clock, which told her it was early afternoon. The realization that she was in Ross's room at his parent's house momentarily confused her before she remembered the recent events.

_Rachel looked up from her magazine at the sound of the buzzer by the door going off. She smiled as she hopped up and pushed the button. "Hello?"_

"_Hey Rach, it's me." Ross's voice filtered through the system._

"_Come on up." She said as buzzed him up. After Monica had disappeared they had grown close while working together to find her. They had been friends almost two years before finally giving up and getting together. They'd been together for a year now and were starting to talk about moving in together. Rachel smiled as she glanced around her small studio apartment. They both had small places and decided to find a bigger apartment to share. She couldn't wait to get out of this place. She had been ecstatic at her choice when she had moved away from home for school, but the novelty had long since worn off and she craved a better place. She had graduated the year before after a two-year fashion program and was working entry level at Bloomingdale's, but it was a start. The door opened and Ross stepped in, bags in hand. _

"_Ooooh, what did you get us this time?"_

_Ross smiled. "Hello to you, too."_

_Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes as she kissed him hello and took the bags from his hands. "Chinese!" She exclaimed as she started pulling containers out. "Great, I'm starved."_

"_Hey, did you hear back about that apartment?" Ross asked as he pulled two plates down from the cupboard._

_Rachel shook her head. "We didn't get it."_

"_Damn, that was a really nice place."_

"_Yeah, I know. Why is this so hard?"_

_Ross laughed and kissed the side of her head as he stepped by her. "Rach, sweetie, we've only been looking for a couple weeks."_

"_I know, but I just really want to live with you."_

_Ross smiled. "Me, too."_

"_So," Rachel said as they settled down at the table to eat. "How was your meeting?"_

_Ross nodded. "It was pretty good. They liked some of my ideas. Oh, and I bumped into my old roommate on the way there."_

"_Chandy?"_

_Ross snorted. "Chandler, but close enough. Yeah, he's getting married on Saturday. He invited us."_

_Rachel smiled. "Sounds nice, I haven't gotten to meet your college friends."_

_xxxxx_

_Ross held on tightly to Rachel's hand as he watched the limo carrying his sister, former roommate and bridal party away for pictures. He was still in shock at what had happened. He had almost given up hope that he would ever see his sister again. And what were the odds that she would marry Chandler? He felt Rachel pull closer to him, wrapping an arm around his. "So, we have a couple hours before the reception."_

_Ross turned to face her. "Yeah." _

_Rachel leaned up to kiss his cheek. "You okay?"_

_Ross shrugged as he tried to play it off. "Yeah, just surprised is all."_

_Rachel sighed. "Hey, its okay to talk to me."_

_Ross broke out of his trance. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just in shock."_

"_Do you think she was telling the truth?"_

_Ross hesitated and closed his eyes for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I really do. And you know what that means."_

_Rachel nodded. "That your mom lied."_

_Ross nodded. "She lied to everyone. Monica, me, my dad…"_

_Rachel hesitated. "Are you sure your dad didn't know?"_

_Ross set his jaw and nodded. "There's no way he would have let this happen." He pulled away and threw his arms around to make his point. "I knew something was weird when I got home. I knew my sister would never run away, and even if she did get in a fight with mom and run away, she would have come back. She would have at least contacted us, or you. There was no reason for her to stay away from you. I can't believe my mother did something like this. And she acted so hurt and innocent."_

"_Ross, you have to calm down," Rachel stepped forward and took his hand. "You're making a scene." She led him around the building to the car, where he slumped against it in defeat. "I don't know what to do about her. I mean she's my mother, but she was so horrible to my sister, her daughter. How could she have done this? There's got to be some explanation."_

_Rachel sighed. "I hope so, Ross. I really hope so, but we don't have to deal with this right away. You're moms away for the weekend, right? That gives us some time."_

_Ross nodded. "How could she have kicked out her own daughter?"_

_Rachel shrugged. "Well, she was always really mean to Monica."_

_Ross looked down. "She was, wasn't she?"_

_Rachel nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. "I have so many memories of her at my house crying because of something your mom said or did. Monica stopped talking about it as much when we got older, but that doesn't mean it still wasn't happening."_

"_She always favored me, and I loved it." Ross said quietly. "I thought it was great. I never thought about how horrible it must have been for Monica. And I never thought anything was wrong with my mom. I feel like my family is about to fall apart." Ross trailed off, emotions getting to him. Rachel didn't hesitate before she pulled him in close, wrapping her arms firmly around his neck and allowing him to simply hold her for a few minutes. _

_Ross finally pulled away, kissing her forehead as he did so. "Thanks."_

_Rachel smiled. "That's what I'm here for."_

"_How much time to we have?" He said suddenly. _

"_Why?"_

"_Because we have to go pick up my dad."_

_xxxxx_

_Jack felt himself lurch awake at the sound of banging at the front door. He blinked a few times and realized he must have dosed off in front of the television. He got to his feet and hurried over to the front door. He swung it open and was surprised to see his son and his girlfriend on the other side. He looked at them, confused._

"_Sorry, dad. I don't have my house keys with me."_

"_That's fine, son. Hi Rachel." He greeted, as he motioned for them to come in. "What have I done to deserve a surprise visit?"_

_His son seemed hesitant about something. "Dad, maybe we should all go sit down."_

_Jack allowed himself to be led back to the couch and flipped off the television. "Is everything okay?"_

_Ross shook his head. "Not really." He paused. "We found Monica."_

_Jack jumped at his daughter's name. "Really? Is she okay? Where is she?"_

"_She's fine, actually she's really good. She lives in the city."_

"_Well, lets go see her," Jack exclaimed. _

_Ross held a hand up. "It's a little more complicated than that."_

_Jack shook his head. "Why?" His son shook his head and it didn't go unnoticed that Rachel reached over to take his hand. "What's going on?"_

"_I bumped into Chandler last week, remember him? He was my roommate at NYU. I don't think you ever actually met him. Anyway, he told he was getting married, and that's where we were today."_

"_And you found Monica at the wedding? She was there?"_

_Rachel almost laughed at this and Ross even allowed himself a small smile. "Yeah, dad, she was there. She was who he was marrying."_

"_What! My little Harmonica got married? And didn't bother to invite her family? It was bad enough that she took off, but-"_

"_Dad, don't go there right now. There's a whole other side to the story, believe me."_

"_So your sister married your old roommate?"_

_Ross smiled. "Yeah, what are the odds, right? We were as surprised as you. We didn't know until well into the ceremony. And afterwards Chandler actually approached us to do introductions, but when she saw us she freaked out and took off. We caught up to her and talked for a while, and…" Ross trailed off for a second, trying to decide what to say. He breathed out. "Dad, you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."_

_Jack felt a chill run through his spine, suddenly wondering whether he wanted to hear it or not. He remained silent, allowing his son to continue when he was ready. _

"_Remember after Monica left and mom told us she stole money and jewelry?"_

_Jack nodded. _

"_Did mom ever account for that stuff?"_

_Jack shook his head. "I don't know what you mean."_

"_Did she ever tell you how much money or what jewelry?"_

_Jack thought back for a moment. "Not that I can remember. I don remember asking what jewelry she took, but your mother wouldn't be specific."_

_Ross scoffed and shook his head. "Figures."_

"_What's that?" Jack asked, wanting to know what was going on._

"_Monica didn't run away, dad. Mom kicked her out."_

_The force of his son's words took Jack aback. "I hardly believe that."_

"_I don't want to believe it either, dad, but its true. Mom told her to leave. She told her…she told her we went away because we knew what was going on and we all wanted her to leave. She only gave her an hour to pack. She even called her an accident."_

"_Oh, I don't know…"_

"_Do you think I would make this up?" There were tears in his son's eyes. "Why would I say these things about my own mother if I didn't think they were true? You should have seen her dad. It was like she was broken. She thought we all hated her. She thought she wasn't good enough for us. She was so…it was like she had given up hope with us. When we talked to her, it was like she was scared of us, scared of what we might say to her. You can't fake that."_

_Jack hesitated. _

"_It's true," Rachel spoke up for the first time. "She definitely wasn't lying."_

_Jack sighed and closed his eyes for a few moments. "I knew she and your mother had problems, but I thought it was just mother-daughter stuff. I never would have thought she was capable of something like this. I don't know what to think and I don't know what to do."_

"_You don't have to know what to think right now, dad, but you should come with us to see your daughter. It would mean a lot to her."_

_Jack nodded. "Of course."_

_Ross glanced at his watch. "How soon can you be ready? Cause we have to leave soon if we're going to get there on time."_

_xxxxx_

_A few hours later Jack was pulled from his trance at a hand on his shoulder. "We're home, dad."_

_Ross was concerned about his father, who hadn't said a word all the way home. "Is it okay if we stay here tonight?" Ross asked. "It's really late and we've already made the drive three times today."_

_Jack nodded. "Of course you can stay."_

_The three made their way into the house and sat around the kitchen table with hot chocolate. _

_Jack broke the silence first. "I can't believe my little girl is married."_

_Ross smiled. "I can't believe it either."_

"_I liked that boy." Jack stated. "Chandler, was it? He seemed like a good man."_

"_He's a great guy," Ross offered. _

_Rachel nodded along with the conversation. "He seemed to really love her a lot."_

"_Well, she deserves to be happy after everything that's happened to her," Jack said. "And you're right, Ross. She's not making this up." He sighed heavily. "I don't know what I'm going to do about your mother."_

_Ross nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing."_


	18. Just Dessert

_**Chapter 18: Just Desserts**_

"Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Ladies," Judy called as she stepped out of the car. She glances quickly up at the house, willing her husband to notice the car and come out to greet her. It would make the ladies in the car so jealous that she had a husband who would do such a thing. There was no movement in the house. She sighed inwardly and plastered a big smile on her face. "Bye for now." She shut the door and waved until the car was out of sight. As soon as she felt they were out of seeing range, she dropped the fake smile and rolled her eyes, mumbling under her breath. As soon as she stepped in the front door, she was yelling for her husband, knowing he was home because his car was in the driveway.

"Jack? I'm home. You were supposed to come out and meet the car! Oh, there you are," she said as he stepped out of the living room. "How was your weekend? Did you manage to eat anything healthy, or simply order pizza for every meal, honestly Jack, think of your cholesterol." She flung herself down onto one of the kitchen chairs, motioning for her husband to join her at the table. "Those women are so taxing to be around! They're all about appearances and brag constantly about every little detail in their lives, especially their kids. And I know we have the best kid, no one holds a candle to Ross, and I think they know that too, cause everything is a competition-"

"We have two kids."

Judy looked up in surprise. They had barely spoken of Monica since the year after she had left home. "Yes, of course, but we only have one kid to be proud of. Ross is perfect and Monica is just gone. I can't tell my friends about her, just think of what they would say." Judy brushed off the topic. In the past few years she had worked very hard to get accepted into a country club and keeping up appearances was part of the game. She, Jack and Ross were the perfect family in the eyes of the other members; a happy couple with a successful son. Jack had to know that's the way it had to stay. "They can't ever know about Monica. It would destroy us in their eyes…" She trailed off, finally noticing the pained expression of her husbands face. "What's wrong?"

Jack noticeably hesitated before speaking. "I've had an interesting weekend. Ross and Rachel came to see me yesterday. They had news."

"What kind of news?" Judy asked hopefully, misreading his expression and instead of expecting bad news, heard wedding bells in her head.

Jack sighed, knowing what he had to do. He looked up, meeting his wife's eyes, knowing he would have his answer as soon as he spoke his next few words. "They found Monica." Judy's eyes widened and her hand came up to her mouth to cover the gasp that had flown out. She looked away from his eyes and at that moment he knew. He knew without a single doubt that everything Monica had told them the previous day had been the truth.

"Oh, my. Is she okay? Where did they find her? Where has she been?" Judy said, trying to recover after her reaction.

Jack shook his head and looked away, ashamed to even look her in the eye right now. How could he have let her fool him for so long?

"Jack? Jack! Talk to me. What's wrong?" Judy demanded. Hoping he hadn't heard Monica's side of the story. Hoping there was still time for her to convince him otherwise.

"How could you do it? To your own daughter?" Jack asked softly, still not looking up.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Just give it up." Jack looked up at her and she was taken aback by the expression in his eyes. She had never seen it before.

Judy hesitated, trying desperately to come up with something to say, knowing she was running out of time.

"We've been married for more than twenty-five years for crying out loud! We have two children! How could you have done this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she repeated.

"Like hell you don't. She's your daughter. And you just kicked her out. Got rid of her so you didn't have to deal with her anymore."

"You don't know the whole story."

"I know everything you told me was a lie. I know she didn't run away. I know she didn't steal anything when she left. I know that she spent the last three years of her life thinking we all wanted her out of our lives. Is there anything else?"

"She was destroying our life!" Judy shouted. "She got in the way! I told you when I was pregnant that this was never going to work. I could just feel it. She wasn't what we needed. Think of all the time and money we wasted on her. That we should have spent on just the three of us. She screwed up all the time. She got fat. For Christ's sake, Jack! I did us all a favor."

"How could you think that? She's our daughter! We didn't waste one penny on one second on her. She spent her whole life trying to make you happy! And the only reason she put on weight was because she was depressed from never being good enough!"

"Jack," Judy began as calmly as she could. "Please don't be thinking what I think you may be. We don't need her in our lives. Think of what everyone's going to say? It would destroy us! After all the work we've done."

"So what? Your social life is more important than your family. Do you even hear yourself?" Jack voice had risen and he was angry.

Judy began to feel afraid, knowing she had been found out and wasn't going to talk herself out of it. "Jack, she isn't worth it. Please listen to me. If you go and bring her back into our lives, then I may just not be here anymore."

Jack was astonished at her words. "So what you're saying is; I have to choose between my wife and my daughter?"

Judy nodded, her jaw set firmly. "That's right."

Jack shook his head before looking back up at her, his gaze steady. "That very fact that you are asking me to choose tells me my answer." With that he got up and walked out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" She got up and followed him into the living room where he picked up a suitcase. "Jack, what's going on?"

"I can't even begin to believe that I was married to someone like you. I'm ashamed of myself. I really am. Obviously I've made a huge mistake, but you can bet I'm going to fix it." He picked up his bag and walked right by his wife. He closed the front door of the house behind him and got into his car.

Judy watched him go from the living room window, tears in her eyes. He wasn't ever supposed to find out.

xxxxx

Rachel groaned as the annoying ringing sound continued to interrupt her dream. She slowly became aware that she was in bed and the phone was ringing. She opened one eye and blinked sleepily at the alarm clock beside her bed. It was after midnight on a Monday night. She reached over to pick up the portable that was resting beside the clock.

"Hello?" She spoke through a yawn.

"Hey, its me. Sorry to call so late."

"S'okay. What's up?"

She heard Ross sigh on the other end of the phone. "My dads asleep on my couch."

"So?" Rachel's sleep deprived brain fought to make sense of what he was telling her.

"He showed up a few hours ago. He, uh…he just left my mom."

Rachel realized what he was talking about and she sat upright in bed. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

There was silence on the other end.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to come over?"

"No, I don't want you out this late. If something ever happened to you I don't know what I'd do."

Rachel smiled at his words. He was always so concerned about her. "Are you okay?" She repeated.

Ross sighed again. "I guess I have to be. I mean she deserves everything that's happening to her. She caused it all. I guess I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. My dad can't even be near her right now. He's so mad. I still can't believe that she did this. She lied to everyone. And what kills me the most is that if I hadn't have bumped into Chandler, we would never have known."

Rachel paused a moment to take in his words. "I never even though of that."

"I still can't believe all of this is happening."

"Do you, uh, want to talk to your mom?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know. I want to know why she did everything she did, but I don't know if I want to hear what she has to say."

"I understand."

Ross sighed. "I think I do need to talk to her."

"Do you want me to come with you when you do?"

"Would you do that? I don't know if I could do it by myself."

"Of course."

"Thanks." Ross said. "I better let you go. It's late."

"Kay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you to."

xxxxx

Judy sighed sadly and blinked back tears as she stepped in the front door and closed it behind her. She lingered in the front hall, leaning on the door for a few moments before straightening her posture and striding into the house. She had just returned from an important social event at the country club, which had been stressful, as she had been forced to put on a happy face and tell everyone that her husband was simply out of town on a last minute work trip. He regretted missing the event, but he was a very important employee. She knew she couldn't keep up the act forever, and she was already formulating plans in her head of what she could tell her friends. She was so focused on her possible social suicide that she failed to realize just how easily the lies were now coming to her.

As she was unpacking her day bag, she scowled at the clothes missing from the closet she had shared with her husband. Her expression turned to anger as she cursed her daughter for causing this problem. She always ruined everything. Judy had been denied a promotion at work because she had gotten pregnant. Being called away from lunches with friends because Monica was sick and called her from school. The embarrassment of her friends handing her pamphlets on fat camps prior to every summer. It never seemed to stop for Monica. She firmly believed she had done her family a favor, and she could only hope her husband would realize his mistake and return to her, sooner rather than later.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a vehicle pulling into her driveway. She glanced out her window and smiled at the sight of her son's car.

"It's about time," she said to herself. It had been two days since her husband left her, and she was sure he had gone to see Ross. She had expected Ross to rush over the day it happened, and when he hadn't shown up she had convinced herself it was too late and he was busy taking care of his father. When he hadn't shown up yesterday either, Judy had begun to become concerned.

She took her time walking down the stairs, and waited for a few minutes after she heard the knock to actually open the door. She did her best to rumple her hair and glue a depressed expression to her face. She needed the sympathy vote from Ross.

"Hi, sweetie," she said quietly, her voice wavering slightly. She was well practiced. "What did I do to deserve such a special visit from you two?" She motioned at Rachel as well.

Ross's expression didn't change. "Absolutely nothing." He said. "You have done nothing to deserve anything from me right now."

Judy cringed inwardly, realizing how upset her son was. "Ross, honey you have to let me explain." She reached a hand toward him.

Ross pulled away violently, "don't touch me!" He exclaimed.

Judy jumped at the volume of his voice and motioned for Ross and Rachel to come inside. She didn't want to make a scene. Once they were all seated in the living room she tried again.

"Ross, you have to understand. What I did was for the best. We all benefited from it."

"Explain to me how I benefited from losing my sister, or how dad benefited from losing his daughter, or how Monica benefited from being kicked out at eighteen?"

"Ross, sweetie, you just don't understand-"

"No, mom, I really don't. I don't even know why I'm here. There's nothing that you could say that would make me understand why you did this." With that Ross went to stand up, but was stopped by a hand on his knee. Rachel gently pulled him back down beside him, knowing he had to do this. She stayed silent, not wanting Judy to think she was supporting her, rather than supporting Ross.

Ross sat back down and sighed as he wrapped his hand around the one still sitting on his leg. He even allowed himself a small smile as Rachel gave his hand a comforting squeeze. Ross took a deep breath and looked up at his mother, meeting her sad eyes. He motioned for her to continue.

Judy took a moment to organize her thoughts, knowing one wrong move and she may lose her son forever. She just hoped she wasn't already past that point. "Sweetie," she began, deciding to lay on all the special names that she could. She had to remind him of all the special treatment he had gotten during his life. "Your sister didn't belong with us. She was different and we all knew it." She paused for a moment and took her son's silence as a cue to continue. "After we had you, I didn't want another child, and when I found out I was pregnant again, I just had this feeling. It was a bad time, and I knew right away that another child wasn't a good idea, but your father refused to accept this. I agreed to have the baby and I did a damn good job putting up with her for as long as I did. I gave her a good chance, I let her finish high school, but then it was time to move on." She paused again, giving Ross time to absorb what she had said. He had to understand. "I did it for the three of us," she finally said when Ross continued to be silent.

Ross looked up at her, an expression on his face unlike any she had ever known. "No, you didn't do this for us, you did it for you." He said in a steady, even voice, no emotion evident.

"No, sweetie, I did it for us. It gave your father and I more time to spend with you and each other."

Ross shook his head. "Mom, I was already at school, and you don't spend time with dad as it is."

"Well, not that you see, but I've spent a countless amount of time over the past few years putting your father and I into a good spot socially."

Ross scoffed at this and even laughed aloud. "Do you really think I buy that you're doing that for both of you? Dad hates the people at the country club, and we both know that. Everything you've been doing there is strictly for you. You're a selfish person. I don't know why I didn't see it before."

Judy felt anger well up inside her. "Don't you ever call me that." She scolded, her voice rising. "Especially not in this house. I gave you a great life, you got everything you ever wanted."

"And you almost destroyed you own daughter in the process!" Ross yelled back, sitting up straighter on the couch.

"I didn't hear you complaining! You loved the way you got treated growing up, don't deny that. You gloated and held it over her for your entire life with her. You didn't care that she didn't get things like you did. You didn't care how she was treated. The more we gave you and the less we gave her, the happier you were."

Ross shook his head. "Only when I was young, when I didn't understand what was going on." He paused for a moment to lower his voice. "How could you be so horrible to her?"

"You were part of the problem, Ross." She said, beginning to get mad at her son for his attitude towards her. "I didn't everything for you. So you'd have a better life. And you never tried to stop me."

"Hey," Rachel said, finally speaking up. "That's not fair."

Judy glared at her. "You stay out of this, it's none of your business."

Rachel felt her blood pressure rise quickly and she too sat up straighter on the couch. "Not my business? Not my business! She was my best friend! Don't think I don't know all the horrible things you used to say to her, you used to do to her. All she ever wanted was you approval and your love, and you never gave it to her. I hate you for what you did to her!" Rachel stood up, going to step towards Judy, but Ross held her back.

"Don't, Rach, she's not worth it," he said quietly, almost as if to himself as well as her. "Lets just go."

Judy stood up, as if to block their exit, but one look from Ross and she knew she had to let them go. She had lost.

Ross pushed his girlfriend out the door in front of him and turned back for one last word. He nodded sadly. "Goodbye." With that he stepped outside into the daylight and pulled the door shut silently behind him.

AN: So sorry it took me so long, but I had huge writers block as what to do about everyone's reaction to Judy. I guess I never really thought this far ahead from the beginning of the story. In my mind I never got passed Ross and Rachel finding Mon at the wedding. So I have some ideas about what other people are going to say to Judy. I don't want to be too harsh, but I know there's a demand for her to get what she deserves.I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Thanks for continued support.


End file.
